Escaped
by xCenationNative
Summary: Rose and Joe (Roman Reigns) dated for two years at Georgia tech. Things couldn't have been better until one night changed it all. Now a few years later they meet again but things aren't how they were before, everything has changed. Have their feelings for each other gone away? Or is there still hope for a love that was once said to last forever.
1. Flashbacks

Rose started at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't see the reflection of the young girl she used to see, she didn't see the girl whose mind was filled with dreams and possibilities. All that was gone now, the young and naïve girl Rose used to be left long time ago. Rose fixed her long, brown, wavy hair up into a ponytail and fixed her skirt. She took one more glance into the mirror and remembered that girl she used to be.

"_Rose! Hurry up the game is about to start!" said her best friend Tori_

"_Coming Tor!" replied Rose excitedly. _

_After5 more minutes Rose walked out hesitant about her outfit. _

"_Finally Rose!", exclaimed Tori. "You know this is the longest you've taken to get ready for a freaking football game but maybe…just maybe.. it's because of __**Joe**__" said Tori smirking._

"_Maybe" Rose replied smiling. "It's just so nerve wrecking! I want to be there for him before the game to relax him because he must be freaking out right now but I can't if I'm also nervous! So I want to look my best" _

"_Well taking a lifetime to get ready doesn't help either Rose" Tori replied laughing. "Come on, come on if you want to catch Joe before the game!"_

_Both girls ran out of their apartments and headed to the game. When they got there Rose went in the guys' locker room trying to find her man. "Mike!" called Rose. "Mike!" Mike turned and smiled at the brunette girl. _

"_Hey Rose, you looking for Joe?" asked Mike_

"_Yes! Have you seen him?" replied Rose_

"_He's in the back talking to Coach Gailey" answered Mike_

"_Ah okay, well if you see him can you tell him I'm here?" asked Rose disappointedly. She was upset she wasn't going to see Joe before the game. Damn it.. why did have to take so long to get ready!_

"_Will do" said Mike smiling_

_Rose thanked him while smiling and waved at the rest of the guys while she left. _

"_Did you talk to him?" asked Tori _

"_Nope, he was talking to coach when I went so.." Rose stopped as she saw Tori smiling._

"_What?" asked Rose but smiled as she felt strong arms wrap around her waist._

"_Hey, you're here" said Joe as he kissed her neck. Rose closed her eyes as she felt his lips on her skin, the feeling of his arms around her._

"_Yes I am" Rose said as she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck smiling. "I have to support my man"_

"_Oh yeah?" asked Joe smirking. He gave her a peck on the lips and smiled. "Well I gotta go babe but I'll see you after the game?"_

"_Of course you will Joe" said Tori smiling as she wrapped her arm around Rose's shoulders. "And remember we'll be the loudest girls cheering for you" continued Tori as Rose laughed._

"_Will do" replied Joe smiling. "See you later girls" Joe said as he walked away._

"_Bye!" both girls said in unison smiling_

Roseremembered that day so clearly. She smiled as she remembered how much Tori and her had yelled at that game. But things just didn't work out the way they were supposed to. That day seemed like a lifetime ago. There was just a small part of her that wished things would go back to how they were before. How things were in college, her friends, her family, the fun, the laughter, but more importantly how things were with Joe.


	2. Life After You

Rose finished typing the documents her boss had asked for. "Just in time" she thought. She walked up to the printer, got the papers, and headed to her boss' office.

"Steve here are the papers you asked for" Rose said as she handed him the papers

"Thanks Rose, that's all the work I need so you don't have to stay extra hours today" Steve said

"Case finally over?" asked Rose

"Yep, we won the trial so you can start heading home now" he replied smiling

"Thank you! See you tomorrow" Rose said as she waved and walked away heading to her desk. She got her purse and keys before she said her goodbyes and headed to her car. As she was heading home she looked out the window while stuck in traffic. A happy couple standing in the corner caught her attention and brought back some memories.

_As soon as Joe walked into Rose's and Tori's apartment, Rose ran to Joe and hugged him tight "You won!" exclaimed Rose _

"_Yeah I did babe just one more game and we're in the finals!" Joe said while smiling._

"_I know I'm so proud of you guys!" said Rose as she gave him a peck on the lips. Joe deserved this more than anybody. He worked hard this whole season to get here. _

_As Joe pulled away from the kiss, he looked at Rose and he couldn't stop smiling. He found his girlfriend very unique and different. That is what he liked about her. Her natural beauty surprised him when they met. Her spruce colored eyes were beautiful. Her personality was beautiful. __**She **__was beautiful._

_He leaned in and kissed her passionately. Rose instantly kissed back and jumped wrapping her legs around Joe's waist as he walked to her bedroom. Rose loved the feeling of Joe's lips on hers, his taste .She could never get enough of it. As soon as they closed the door, he put Rose against the door. He attacked her neck, her jaw, and her lips with kisses as his hands were on every other part of her body. Rose needed Joe and she needed him now. She grabbed the hem of Joe's shirt and pulled it off as she began kissing his chest. Joe couldn't take it anymore. He picked her up and threw her on the bed as he got on top of her. He kept kissing her as he ripped off every piece of clothing Rose had on. _

_He got off of her for a little as he finished taking of the clothing he had on and went back to loving her and her body. He began going down kissing her body from her lips and lower to her sensitive area. Rose's head went back as Joe loved and kissed her womanhood. The feeling of his tongue inside of her felt amazing. She grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged on it, loving the attention Joe was giving her. She was going crazy as she saw Joe doing all the work. So she pulled him up and brought his attention to her lips as she kissed him with lust, love, and hunger. She flipped them over as she began loving his body. She was tired of waiting and she could tell by the looks in his eyes, he was as well. "Joe I want you __**now"**__ demanded Rose. Joe did what he was told and the rest of the night was filled with Rose and Joe pleasing and loving each other as much as they could._

Rose was taken out of her trance by cars honking her at her to keep driving. She began heading home trying to forget what she had just remembered. The feeling of Joe's lips, and his hands on her and her body. She had never felt anything like that with anyone, not that she had tried with anyone else. It didn't matter though, because Joe had hurt her, he had hurt her badly. She drove and drove trying to forget about the pain she was feeling inside but she couldn't. She remembered that day clearly.

_Rose started heading to the bar where they were celebrating the big championship win! At first she hadn't felt good to go to the party but now she felt all better. She had to go and be by Joe's side, celebrate with him. They had all the reasons to be happy tonight. She parked and headed inside. All eyes were on her as she walked in which was kind of odd. _

"_Hey Mike, where's Joe?" asked Rose_

_Mike looked at her nervous not knowing how to answer. He looked at the other guys but he knew they didn't want to be in his position either. Rose couldn't really read his expression when he saw her, that worried her.. a lot. Joe and alcohol didn't mix well which worried her even more. Had something happened to him? Was he okay?_

"_Mike! What's wrong? Where's Joe?" said Rose as she began to get nervous. _

"_Umm I think he went home" replied Mike. She couldn't tell if he was telling the truth but she chose to believe him anyways. She knew Tori was here so she knew she would get answers from her. _

"_Okay thanks" said Rose as she walked away. She walked around the bar but no sign of Joe or Tori. She looked at the bartender and walked up to him._

"_Hey, have you seen a girl about this tall with blond short hair? She was supposed to be here" asked Rose trying to relax_

"_No ma'am I think she went home" _

"_Thank you", Rose headed home waiting to talk to Tori. She parked and headed inside, no sign of Tori in the living room. "She must be in her room" she thought. She put her bag down and walked to Tori's room. "You will not believe what hap-"_

_Rose stood there shocked as she saw Joe and Tori in her bed. A tear slipped down as she stood there watching them since they hadn't noticed her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to yell at them but nothing came out. Not only until she held on to the desk for balance and made it move did they hear her. Joe and Tori both looked at her with blank faces. Rose couldn't take it anymore she had to leave._

"_Carry on" said Rose, "Don't let me stop you" she said as she closed the door and ran to her room. Rose lay there crying for what seemed hours. She heard her door open and she felt someone sit on her bed. _

"_Whoever it is " said rose. They didn't leave though. _

"_Rose talk to me please" Joe said. She could tell he was drunk, very drunk. _

_She stood up and looked at him. "What do you want?"_

"_Rose look you understand right? I was celebrating and having fun! We won our game and I was just celebrating. Since you didn't feel good I went to celebrate somewhere else but you know I love you" replied Joe._

_Rose looked at him with disbelief. He loves me? "You LOVE me? Listen Joe why don't you just leave before I give you the slap of your life." replied Rose angrily. _

_Joe looked at her confused. "You know YOU need ME right? I don't need you Rose. I can have any girl I want as I just showed you. Who would want you? Nobody Rose NOBODY". Tears fell down Rose's cheek as his words broke her heart. This wasn't the Joe she dated, the Joe that she loved. She pushed him out of the room as hard as she could and closed the door. She fell to the floor crying her eyes out wishing this bad dream could go away. _

Now 6 years later Rose got out of the car and wiped the tears from her eyes as she headed in her apartment. She smiled as she saw someone running to her smiling. "Mommy!" said Maia. Rose picked her five year old daughter up and hugged her tight. She remembered a few weeks after that night she had found out she was pregnant. By then she had already moved to another apartment. She had felt alone without Joe and Tori but with her family's help she had moved on. All that mattered now was Maia and that was it.

**Well guys now you know the history between Rose and Joe and what changed everything. Should I continue writing this story? Please review thank you! **


	3. This Can't Be Happening

"Maia, honey wake up!" called Rose. Today was Rose's day off so she was getting Maia ready for school and the preparing a day filled with relaxation. She hadn't had one of those days in a while. She was in desperate need of one. As she was cooking Maia's breakfast, Rose turned confused as she heard a knock on the door. 'Who would it be at this time?' thought Rose. A smile appeared on her face as she saw who it was.

"Aj hey!" said Rose smiling

"Hey hun!" answered Aj as she gave Rose a huge hug

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on the road?" asked Rose confused

"Well actually, we have a show here in-" Aj replied as she was interrupted by a small five year old running to her yelling "Auntie April!" as she jumped on Aj and hugged her. Rose smiled as she saw Maia talking to her aunt. Rose and Aj had met a few months after Tech. They had hit it off pretty well and had been best friends since then. Aj was like a sister to Rose, she was there for her as was Rose for Aj. She had been there for Maia as well, since she was a baby.

"How's my favorite five year old?" asked Aj while carrying Maia

"Really good!" answered Maia smiling

"That's great sweetie" replied Aj smiling. "Like I was saying we have a show near Bellevue Washington tonight at the Key arena; so I was wondering if you guys wanted to come."

"Mommy, can we go? Please Mommy! Please!" asked Maia with that little angel face she had. Maia was a huge wrestling fan since she was little. She would watch her Aunt Aj while she was away. Rose could never say no to that face. Sometimes, Rose would get a little sad looking at her daughter. She looked a lot like her father; she was like his mirror reflection in a smaller girl body. She had his eyes, his hair, his face. Of course she kind of looked like Rose but mostly like her father. She had Rose's lips but his smile. Rose was snapped from her thoughts when she heard Maia pleading "Please mommy can we go?"

Rose looked at Maia and smiled, "Sure honey of course we can go"

"Yay! Mommy thank you" Maia said with a huge smile as she jumped off of Aj's arms and wrapped her arms around her mom's legs.

"Now come on Maia, eat your breakfast so you won't be late for school" said Rose. Maia listened to her mom and ran to the kitchen to eat her breakfast.

"You wanna hang out after we drop off Maia?" asked Aj

"Yes please" Rose answered smiling, "I'm in need of some girl time"

* * *

After Rose and Aj dropped off Maia at school, they went to a coffee shop nearby. This was something they did often. When Aj was in town, they would either go out for coffee and get a bite to eat or did whatever Maia wanted.

"Maia is such an adorable little one." Aj said smiling, "She's so adorable and the funniest little firecracker"

"She is isn't she?" Rose said laughing, Aj nodded.

"So who've you been?" asked Aj

"Good I guess, busy with work" answered Rose looking distracted.

"You sure? Rose Caverly I have known you for a few years now and I think I know you well enough to know something's bothering you" said Aj feeling concerned for her friend.

"Yes I'm sure" answered Rose with a small smile, "I've just been thinking a lot about things that's all"

"Well if you want to talk you know I'm here for you whenever you need me" said Aj.

The girls finished their coffee and went around town to have their girl time. They decided to leave the car outside the shop and went walking. They went to all the stores they go to when Aj is in town and laughed the whole afternoon. They also bought Maia some things like clothes and toys before they said their goodbyes and Aj headed to the arena while Rose went to pick Maia up from school.

For some reason, Rose felt uneasiness as she thought about going to the show tonight. She didn't know why but she was feeling like she didn't want to go. If it was up to her she would stay home but she was doing this for Maia. Her daughter mattered more to her than anything else in the world. Maia always came first.

* * *

Rose smiled as she saw Maia walk out with her Love Bites shirt on and her piggy tails. She was such a big fan Aj. "Come on Mommy! We're gonna be late!" yelled Maia while tugging on her mom's hand. Rose fixed her dark brown wavy hair and looked down at her daughter.

"Okay come on, come on" Rose grabbed her bag and keys before she walked out and headed to the arena.

"Are you excited?" asked Rose smiling at her daughter while driving

"Yes mommy! I can't wait to see a lot of people" replied Maia moving up and down from her car seat.

"Really? Like who?" asked Rose

"Auntie Aj, and other people you don't know like the Bella Twins, John Cena, and The Shield!" answered Maia in her cute baby voice. She could barely control her excitement. Rose couldn't hold her smile with her daughter, that voice and that smile. These were moments she loved with Maia.

When they arrived to the arena, Rose and Maia got their tickets scanned and bags checked before heading to their seats. Maia was so excited because thanks to Aj, we got front row seats. It was so cute how Maia was explaining everything to Rose, like who her favorite was and who the mean one was. She was raising the posters Rose had helped her make after school and cheering for her favorites. Throughout the show, Rose took pictures of Maia while she had fun and also asked the mom next to them if she could take a picture of both of them. Rose and Maia hugged each other tight while smiling for the camera. Although Rose had been getting some bad feelings, she chose to ignore them. She didn't know what was wrong with her, or what was wrong at all. She had to admit, she was having fun as well, and she had even started cheering with Maia throughout the show.

"Honey, are you having fun?" asked Rose

"Yes mommy thank you!" Maia responded with that angelic smile of hers as she leaned in to lean on Rose. Rose could tell Maia was getting tired, but what the heck Maia could stay home tomorrow. She just wanted Maia to be happy.

**Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta SHIELD**

And just like that Maia's head shot up and looked up to the stairs. 'What the heck' thought Rose as she looked in the direction Maia was looking. "Look Mama The Shield!" yelled Maia. Rose looked as she saw three men heading to the ring through the crowd. Rose looked like she had just seen a ghost. 'This can't be happening' thought Rose as a large man headed down the stairs on her side. She must've blinked a million times before she realized it was him. After all these years he was there, she felt like she was going to faint. She looked at Maia cheering and move in front of Rose to get a better look since her seat was right next to the stairs. She wanted to leave but couldn't.

Seeing him again was breaking her heart, but what actually did the damage was when he got closer and spotted Rose. She looked into his grey eyes and her eyes began to water. Her whole body began shaking, her head started spinning. His expression blank, his eyes were unreadable. She could not believe this was happening; this has to be a nightmare.

* * *

Memories started coming back to Joe. His head filled with so many thoughts. Is that Rose? Could that actually be her? What was she doing here and who is the kid? All these thoughts ran through his mind. He was still in shock. During the match Joe kept looking at Rose, he knew she was trying not to look at him. He looked at the kid yelling "Tag Roman In" which made him smile.

Seth could tell Joe was feeling distracted. "Hey, you okay man?" asked Seth concerned.

"Yeah man I'm fine" answered Joe distracted. He could not stop looking at her. Rose, she looked so beautiful. Was it possible to look more beautiful than before? Her face, her body, all of her was perfection. He was distracted from his thoughts when Dean tagged him in. Joe got in the ring as the little girl front row yelled and did his thing.

* * *

"And the winners of this match, The Shield" announced Justin Roberts.

The first thing Rose did was pick up her purse and get up while Maia was cheering. She looked into the ring and saw Joe looking at her. She needed to leave and most importantly, she needed to get Maia out of here. "Maia lets go honey, it's time to go home." Said Rose in a hurry. Maia didn't want to leave though; she kept cheering trying to get The Shield's attention. "Maia, let's go" repeated Rose. Maia frowned and picked up her new WWE Merchandise Rose had bought her.

"Wait Mommy no! They are leaving this way, please mama I want to say hi!" pleaded Maia. Rose felt stuck, she didn't know what to say. It hurt her heart to say no to Maia, but she didn't want to risk it. "No Maia, come on lets go" said Rose. While arguing with Maia, Rose had gotten distracted; so when she turned to leave, she saw Joe jump over the barricade right in front of her. Oh no..

**Well, what did you guys think of this chapter? I think it was intense huh? What do you think is going to happen next? Please Review guys! Thank you for reading**

**By the way MITB tonight! I am so excited! I'm going to be going for Seth and Dean for the MITB ladder match & John and Roman for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship ladder match **** can't wait…**


	4. Talk To Me

The moment was intense. Joe and Rose never broke eye contact as he stood right in front of her. She could hear Maia yelling, "Look mommy, It's Roman Reigns!" over and over again. Rose looked down and smiled at Maia, but when Joe finally realized what he had heard, he looked down at the kid. 'Mommy? What the hell?' Joe thought. He looked back up at Rose confused. Rose quickly looked down; Joe didn't want to do this here, not in front of all the fans or cameras. He took one last look at Rose and went all the way back up the stairs without looking back.

Rose began breathing again when she saw Joe leave. She looked down at Maia and smiled at her beautiful daughter, "Come on sweetie, let's go home" Rose said as she grabbed Maia's tiny hand. Maia went on and on about her favorite parts of the show, but Rose was barely listening. She couldn't stop thinking about Joe, 'what was he doing here?' she thought.

"…Roman Reigns!" said Maia filled with happiness.

Rose's quickly looked down at her daughter alarmed, "What?"

"I said I can't believe we were so close to Roman Reigns!" repeated Maia smiling. Rose smiled and let out a sigh of relief. She needed to get out of here, quick. She began leading Maia up the stairs. They were about to walk out the door, when a man came and grabbed her arm. Rose quickly turned and put Maia behind her looking at the man frightened. The man quickly put his arms up, "Whoa ma'am sorry if I scared you but one of the talents requested for me to bring you backstage" said the security guard showing her his badge.

Rose let out a small smile and nodded, 'must be Aj' she thought. She grabbed Maia's hand and began following the security guard. They walked for several minutes and meanwhile Maia was saying hi to all the superstars she saw. After a few more minutes, they stopped in front a door. Usually Aj hung out in the divas locker room, Rose was starting to get a bad feeling about this. The man knocked on the door and a few minutes later, the door opened revealing a tall muscular man. Rose's stomach tied in a knot. Her face went pale as Maia was jumping up and down yelling "Roman Reigns! Roman Reigns!" in her baby voice. Rose froze right on the spot; she could not speak or move. She was definitely stuck.

Joe smiled at the little girl and bend down "Hey there, what's your name?"

Maia let go of her mom's hand and smiled, "My name is Maia" Maia said shyly. Joe noticed Rose had not moved ever since he opened the door. He looked up at her but she quickly looked away. "You want to come in?" Joe asked Maia. She nodded quickly, grabbed her mom's hand and pulled her in the locker room. "Where are Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose?" asked Maia disappointed. The Shield was definitely her favorite stable. "They are actually at catering getting something to eat, do you want to see them and maybe get some ice cream?" asked Roman and smiled when Maia jumped up and down nodding. "Can I mama please?" asked Maia begging her mother. Rose quickly looked down and let out a small smile, "Sure sweetie, I'll take you" Rose said quickly heading to the door pulling Maia.

Joe quickly went to the door stopped them, "Nonsense, I'll get Jack to take her. Meanwhile I can give your mom some autographs for you to take home". Rose shot Joe a look, 'If only looks could kill' thought Joe. Rose bend down and looked at Maia, she felt exhausted. She was not going to try anymore, she was stuck and there was nothing she could do about it. "Fine but not a lot of Ice cream, okay?" Rose said looking at Maia with a small smile. "Okay mama deal!" Said Maia and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. She kissed her mom's cheek goodbye and headed to the catering area with the security guard. Rose cringed as she heard the door close. She felt shivers all over her body when Joe's arm brushed past hers as he went to stand in front of her. She didn't want to see the way he was looking at her. Rose was looking at the ceiling, the wall, anywhere that wasn't Joe or his eyes.

"Rose look at me" said Joe. Rose didn't listen to him though, she kept looking away. She knew looking at him would be a huge mistake. She would get lost in those beautiful grey eyes. Joe began getting frustrated with her, "Look at me Rose" he repeated. He knew she wouldn't budge so he moved a little closer to her and touched her arm. Rose jerked away from his touch and finally looked at him. For the first time in his life he saw those once kind spruce colored eyes were now cold as they looked at him. "What?" she shot at him coldly. "What do you need Joe?"

Joe could not read her expression, hatred maybe? He tried to get closer but she quickly stepped back. "Look Rose, I just want to talk" replied Joe trying to keep his temper under control. "Talk about what Joe? Talk about the fact that you used my kid, to get me here? Used her to talk to me? What could we possibly talk about?" shot back Rose angry. Her emotions were out of control. She was becoming a wreck but she refused to cry in front of him, not again. Joe didn't know what to say. He looked at Rose and didn't recognize her. She stood there looking at him coldly; Joe could barely remember those eyes that once looked at him filled with love. He knew he deserved this.

"Maia is beautiful Rose, a sweet kid" Joe said looking down.

"Yeah I know" Rose answered, "She's my little angel" continued Rose looking at Joe. She knew the question was coming. The question she was dreading over the years. Joe looked back up at her and moved closer to her. Their bodies were just inches away. Rose looked up into his eyes and remembered how it felt to be this close to him. She remembered the effect he had on her, her legs began shaking; shivers were all over her body. Their faces were so close; Joe noticed her eyes weren't so cold anymore. He wanted to grab her and make her his all over again. Joe looked down at those soft peach colored lips, wanting to feel them against his.

As they stepped closer to each other, the door opened. "Babe!" they heard a girl say as she walked in. Rose recognized that voice; she knew that voice from somewhere. She quickly turned around and felt her heart break. She saw as Tori stood there in shock. Rose looked at Joe with a look of disgust and disappointment. She couldn't believe she almost fell all over again. She felt so stupid, so naïve, she felt betrayed. What made it worse was when she saw the big rock around Tori's left finger. Her eyes began to water; she needed to get out of here. Joe felt his world fall apart all over again. He didn't want this to happen, not like this. He felt like a jerk.

Rose quickly got her purse and Maia's things. "Rose what are you doing here?" asked Tori. Rose looked at Tori with so much anger wanting to strangle her, "That is the last time I want to hear my name coming out of your disgusting infected mouth" said Rose coming face to face with Tori. She looked at Joe, "Thank You Roman for the meet and greet" Rose said as she was opening the door. Joe was surprised when he heard her call him by his ring name. "At least let me give you the autograph for Maia" pleaded Joe. Rose looked at him shocked, 'Did he really just tell me that?' she thought. "The last thing I want or need from you is your autograph okay? So stay away from me and my daughter" and with that Rose walked out and slammed the door closed.

She tried to keep herself together as she made her way to catering. She was not going to cry, not here in front of all these strangers. She began to hurry when she heard Joe calling her. She walked into catering, scanning the room looking for Maia. She spotted her sitting on Aj's lap laughing with Joe's partners. "Look Mama is here!" yelled Maia. Aj looked at Rose and could tell something was wrong. She quickly said her goodbyes to Seth and Dean and walked over to Rose carrying Maia. "Rose, sweetie you okay?" asked Aj concerned. She could tell Rose wanted to cry. "Yeah" Rose said as she took Maia out of Aj's arms, "I just need to go home". Aj nodded and got her bags, "I'll call the hotel and tell them I don't need the room anymore" Aj said smiling. "My best friend needs me" continued Aj as she wrapped her arm around Rose's shoulders. Rose nodded and headed to the car with Maia and Aj.

Joe ran into catering and looked around not seeing Rose or Maia anywhere. Dean and Seth noticed the worried look on their friend's face and walked over.

"You okay man?" asked Seth.

Joe completely ignored the question and said, "Have you guys seen a girl this tall, with brown hair, and a kid?"

"Yeah she just left, that little girl was the cutest little girl I've ever seen" answered Seth smiling.

Roman looked at Seth, "Where'd they go?" he asked in a hurry.

"Parking lot, where are y-"Seth said as Joe left running heading to the parking lot.

Joe ran as fast as he could, trying to catch up with them. When he got to the parking lot he looked around but couldn't see them. He then saw a White 2014 Toyota Camry leaving the arena. He saw Rose in the passenger seat looking out the window upset. "Rose!" yelled Joe repeatedly trying to get their attention. "Rose!" he yelled again knowing they might not be able to hear him. He had tried everything. He didn't know what to do, he was feeling frustrated. "Rose!" he yelled one more time as loud as he could. He ran his hands through his long hair feeling his heart break as he saw the love of his life drive away.


	5. We're Holding On And Letting Go

**Hi Guys! Sorry it took me so long to update, but here it is! Chapter 5 Enjoy! **

Rose's eyes opened to the sun shining through her window. 'Ugh, I should've closed the blinds last night' she thought as she got up. She went into the restroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw her eyes were still sort of red and puffy. 'I look like a mess'. Rose turned on her shower and got in. She tried to relax under the warm water and not think about what happened last night. After she had gotten home, she had put Maia to bed and gone straight to her room. She knew Aj must have been worried but she let Rose be alone. Rose didn't know what time she must've gone to sleep, but she knew she wasn't going to make Maia go to school.

Rose slid down to the floor as the water fell all over her body. She was still surprised to see Joe there, after not seeing him all these years. What she didn't see coming was Joe being engaged to that backstabbing bitch she used to call her best friend. She couldn't believe she was going to fall into his trap again. She couldn't believe he was **engaged!** 'God, how could I have been so stupid, she buried her face in her hands and curled her knees up to her chest. Rose couldn't help but cry at the thought of Joe proposing to her. 'That was supposed to be me' she thought as she sat sobbing softly.

After a while, Rose got out of the shower and changed into some shorts and a shirt. She finished brushing her wet brown hair and went to Maia's room to check on her. She peeked in her room and saw she was still sleeping. She must've been very tired last night to still be sleeping. Rose walked up to Maia's bed and bend down next to her.

"Wake up sleeping beauty" she said softly as she smiled. She kissed Maia's forehead as Maia opened her eyes slowly. "Morning mommy" Maia said with a tired face. She sat up with her eyes still closed which made Rose giggle a little. "Do you want to go wake up Auntie April?" Rose asked with a smirk on her face. Maia quickly opened her eyes and nodded her head fast. Rose carried her out of bed and carefully walked to Aj's room and opened the door. She and Maia both smiled evilly as they quietly walked to her bed. Rose carefully picked up Maia and put her standing on Aj's bed. Maia started jumping yelling "Wake up Wake up Wake up!" with her baby voice. Aj sat up quickly with a scared face as Rose fell to the floor laughing. "Guys Really!?" Aj said as she put a pillow on her face. "Yes wake up Auntie!" Maia yelled. Aj smiled and got up carrying Maia, "You're a little devil you know that?" Aj said smiling. "Nope! Mama says I'm her little angel" Maia answered, Rose and AJ laughed their way to the kitchen.

They finished eating and Maia went up to her room to play. Aj looked at her friend worried remembering what had happened last night. She remembered seeing Rose about to cry and she wanted to know why so she'd know whose ass to kick next time she went to work.

"You okay?" asked Aj helping Rose put up the dishes.

"Yeah why?" asked Rose curious.

Aj looked at her, "because of what happened yesterday?" Aj said. Rose sighed wishing she could just move on from that but she also knew she owed it to Aj to tell her the truth. She just didn't think she was ready yet, "Yeah I'm sure, I promise."

Aj looked at her friend unsure but nodded. After finishing with the dishes, she looked at the time and frowned. "Rose I got to go, some superstars had to stay and do some signings and interviews before leaving tomorrow; since I'm one of them I gotta run."

"That's fine" answered Rose with a reassuring smile.

"Maybe you and Maia could stop by my signing later on? It's in about 2 hours." Aj asked smiling

Rose wanted to say no, but she knew Aj wouldn't believe her if she did. Plus Maia would love to go and they didn't come here often. She knew she was risking running into him but what else was she supposed to do? "Yeah sure, just let me get her showered and dressed. She would love getting an autograph from her favorite Diva" Rose said laughing

"Okay see you there!" Aj said smiling as she closed the door.

Rose began shaking at the thought of seeing him again. What has she just done?

* * *

"Mommy are we almost there?" Maia asked while looking out the window smiling. Rose looked at her daughter, "Yup just five more minutes". When they got there she smiled and showed the security guard the pass Aj had given them. They walked around as Maia got in line to get autographs from The Bella Twins, The Usos, and others. Every time she had to wait in line, she stood there nervously. She needed them to hurry up! Maia jumped up and down when it was her turn; she smiled when The Usos started talking to her and agreed to take a picture with her.

Joe was looking down while signing some autographs for some fans. He was still distracted after yesterday. He knew he had hurt Rose again, that was the last thing he wanted. He suddenly heard a familiar voice say "Maia stay still for the picture!" as he heard his cousin Jimmy and Jey laugh. Joe turned and saw Rose laughing trying to take a picture of Maia with his cousins. He turned and looked at Seth, "How long until we can leave?" asked Joe in a hurry. "About five minutes why?" asked Seth curious. Dean smiled, "I bet he needs to take a shit that's why". Seth and Dean laughed until Joe shot them an annoyed look. They both looked down and kept signing the pictures.

Rose kept laughing and thanked The Usos for the pictures. They smiled and high fived Maia goodbye. She grabbed Maia's hand and kept walking to see who else was here. Rose looked around and was surprised to see Joe staring right at her. He turned and looked at the restroom area and looked back at her. She didn't know if she wanted to talk to him again. She was debating whether going to the restroom area and waiting for him or just ignoring him. She knew she was going to regret this. She took Maia to Aj and asked her if she could watch her as she went to the restroom. She stood there waiting as she felt her body begin shaking again. She felt someone tap her shoulder and she turned around to see Tori standing there.

"Waiting for someone?" asked Tori with a smirk on her face.

"Is that any of your business?" replied Rose narrowing her eyes on Tori

"Actually it is if your waiting for my fiancée Rose" replied Tori as she showed Rose her ring.

Rose just looked at Tori with a blank look on her face. She didn't want to show her it was hurting her seeing the ring on her finger. Tori smiled knowing Rose to well.

"So why don't you just leave my fiancée and I alone? I mean he loves me Rose! Wasn't him cheating you with me enough to show you he doesn't want you? He wants a real woman you know? I mean is what you want money? You don't have enough for your daughter so you run back to him? Is it because that little one doesn't have a daddy? Is that it?" asked Tori trying to hurt Rose. She knew she needed to get her out of Roman's life for good.

Rose's face turned red as she stood there with so much anger she felt she was going to explode. How dare she? How dare she disrespect me and talk about my daughter like that? Rose just couldn't take it anymore. She slapped Tori so hard she had to take a few steps back. She could still see her hand on Tori's cheek.

"Talk about me or my daughter like that again, a slap is not the only thing you're gonna get" Rose said as she walked away. She saw Joe heading to her, looking concerned as he saw her face. She looked so pale, like she was going to faint. She began walking the other way until Joe grabbed her arm. She jerked her arm away as she looked at him with tears falling down her cheek. "Rose.. What's wr-"

"This is the last time I'm going to tell you Joe, stay away from me!" Rose said, "Stop trying to talk to me, or look for me, just leave me alone". Joe looked at her feeling his world falling apart. He hated seeing her like this. "Just be happy with Tori" Rose said as both hers and Joe's hearts broke when she said that. "Have a happy life together" Rose said, as more tears came streaming down.

"Rose you don't mean that. I know you!" Joe said trying to make sense of all of this. She didn't mean it! She didn't mean any of it, she couldn't…

"This is goodbye Joe, I hope you know that" Rose said and walked away. Joe just stood there watching her walk away. Fans came and surrounded him talking to him but he didn't pay attention. 'This is goodbye Joe, I hope you know that', those words kept running through his head unsure if this was actually the end of them.

* * *

"We need to talk" Rose told Aj looking down as they got home. Aj looked at her friend concerned and nodded sitting down on the couch with Rose. This was the first time she was going to tell anyone about Joe. He had been the one who shall not be name in this house for a while.

"The reason I was so urgent to leave yesterday and the reason why I was so upset right now was because I saw Maia's father" Rose said as Aj looked at her shocked. She had known Rose and Maia's father had ended on bad terms but she had never known why.

"Really? Like in the crowd?" asked Aj still surprised.

"No! I saw him backstage and at the signing" Rose said as her eyes got watery. Aj hugged her friend tightly trying to comfort her. She was still confused though, why was he there?

Rose looked back up at her confused friend, "Aj, Maia's dad is Joe". Rose could tell her friend was still confused, "Oh god Roman, Maia's dad is Roman".

Aj looked at her friend stunned. "Roman? As in Roman Reigns?", Aj asked as Rose nodded."What? How? When?" asked Aj. Rose knew Roman? What the heck?

"We dated back in Georgia tech for about two and a half years until he cheated on me with my backstabbing ex best friend Tori." Confessed Rose sobbing softly, hoping Maia couldn't hear them. "Tori? His fiancée? Aj asked as she looked at her friend with a saddened face. She wrapped her arms around her as Rose nodded looking down. She knew after such a long time this must have been hard for her, all Aj wanted to do was go up to Tori and beat the life out of her. Rose was like her sister, she hated seeing her like this.

"She came up to me and kept talking trash and even said things about Maia, so I slapped the hell out of her. I wanted to do more! I wanted to kill her because in the end she won! She took Joe! She took the love of my life!" Rose said crying, she couldn't hold it in anymore, she just let the tears fall. Aj didn't know what to say. She just held her friend as she cried. They both stayed there in silence while Rose cried, they both knew Rose just needed to let it out in order to finally move on. Move on from the past, forget about everything. She was tired of crying, she needed this to finally be able to forget about Joe.

**Well this one was a long one huh? Don't you guys hate Tori? She is such a bitch! Lol **

**What do you think is going to happen to Rose and Joe? Are they done for good? **

**Please review guys and thank you for the ones that have reviewed! Thank you for the support **


	6. I Don't Know What To Do

**Hey guys! Here is chapter 6 of Escaped...Enjoy!**

Joe looked at the crowd, filled with strangers' faces. He looked over to the seats where Rose and Maia sat a few weeks ago. It had been weeks since they had talked, since he had seen them. Ever since she said it was goodbye, Joe had wondered if it had been the truth. Aj once in a while glared at him with a look of death in the hallway; he didn't know why... maybe she was getting too comfortable with her in ring character. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Rose. He knew he had been staring for too long when the fans that were sitting where Rose and Maia once sat, were excited thinking he was staring at them...which he now realized he kind of was.

After the match, Joe went straight for the shower. Seth and Dean both looked at each other wondering what was wrong with their friend, their brother. Once Seth was dressed and Dean showered, they both looked at Joe not knowing what to do.

"Hey man...you okay?" asked Dean concerned as he sat next to his brother.

"Yeah man" answered Joe dully. He looked back down and put his hands in his face while he thought about Rose. 'Where the hell could she be?' thought Joe.

"You sure bro?" asked Seth as he pulled up a chair and sat with his brothers.

"I said I'm fine!" Joe said looking up pissed. He didn't want to talk to them; he didn't want to say Rose was gone out loud. If he did, it would sink in that it might just be over. Seth looked at him concerned, while Dean looked at him pissed as well.

"Listen to me you asshole, we are your brothers! You can't expect us to see you looking like shit and not say anything!" Dean said angrily as Seth looked at him shocked. Roman knew he had crossed the line; they were just trying to help.

"I know...I'm sorry" Roman said finally looking up from his hands. "It's just…You remember that chick with the kid? The kid you were talking to with Aj?" Roman said looking at his friends. Both Dean and Seth nodded, "Well I dated her back at Tech" Joe said. "Her name is Rose" Joe continued. Dean and Seth nodded again signaling him to keep going.

"Long story short, I made the biggest mistake of my life and I can't get her out of my mind since I saw her again" Joe said starting to get frustrated, saying it out loud was making him upset.

Seth looked at him not knowing what to say; meanwhile Dean was still letting it all sink in. "I miss her and I don't know what to do" Joe said putting his face in his hands again.

* * *

Rose looked at the clock on her desk, she tapped her feet excited to get out of here. Only ten more minutes she thought. Today not only was her last day at work before a two week vacation, but it was Maia's last day of school too. Finally! It had been a few weeks after seeing Joe again in the show and the signing; but she was feeling a lot better thanks to Aj. Rose couldn't wait to get out of here and pick up her beautiful angelic daughter.

Once Rose saw the clock strike 2:30 PM, she got up and got her purse ready to leave. She waved at everyone and went into her boss Steve's office. He smiled seeing her come in knowing what was coming.

"See you in TWO weeks!" she said laughing. He laughed as well knowing she had been waiting for this moment all day.

"See you Rose, tell little Maia hey for me and to have fun this summer" Steve said smiling.

"Will do boss!" Rose said waving goodbye but was interrupted by Steve's voice telling her to wait and come back in. Rose looked at him confused as she walked in. "What is it Steve?"

"I just looked at your record; it looks like you have two more vacation weeks you can request" Steve said smiling at Rose knowing all too well her bright smile was about to come.

"Are you freaking serious?" asked Rose dropping her purse shocked.

Steve's face then turned serious and went back to work, "No I'm kidding..." Rose looked down disappointed but realized he was joking when he smiled at her.

"You jerk!" Rose said laughing. Steve started laughing; Rose was a very close friend of his. Since they met, they had gotten along. She had that effect on people.

"So you want them?" asked Steve knowing the answer already. "Heck yes Steve! Maia's birthday is coming up and I need those days" Rose said while giving him a grateful smile.

"Done…See you next month Rose" said Steve with a smile on his face.

"See you boss!" Rose said waving at Steve and everyone else in the office goodbye. This was going to be the best vacation ever!

* * *

Seth walked around looking for the petite woman known as Aj Lee. He knew all too well that she was close with Rose. He remembered Maia calling her Auntie something. 'Auntie April' he remembered. Seth kept looking and smiled once he found Aj talking to one of the other divas.

"Hey, can we talk?" Seth asked Aj. She looked at him confused but nodded. 'What the heck could Seth Rollins want with me?" Aj said.

"Look Aj I need your help" Seth said as Aj looked at him curiously. What in the world could he want from her? "I remember you talking to us with some little girl the other day", explained Seth; "Turns out Roman knows her mom and really needs to talk to her".

Aj looked at him annoyed finally knowing what he wanted. 'Here I thought he actually just wanted to talk to me' thought Aj annoyed as she looked down. Truth be told, she had always felt something for the architect of The Shield. Turns out he just needed a favor for his pal.

Seth noticed her looking down and looked at her concerned, "Aj, you okay?" he said trying to make her look up. Aj just nodded but didn't say a word. Seth now knew something was definitely wrong, so since she wouldn't look up he bent down and looked up at her. "Hey, I'm talking to you" he said smiling at her. Aj blushed and smiled back at him, she was so embarrassed knowing he could see her blushing, which made her blush even more. Seth kept smiling looking up at Aj; he had never realized how cute she was, she was beautiful.

"Look Seth I don't want to be mean..." Aj said but was distracted by Seth still looking up at her smiling. She couldn't help but smile again, god what is it about this man that makes her feel like this. "Gosh Seth get up already!" Aj said laughing. Seth laughed feeling happy he had made her laugh and feel better.

"Look I don't want to be mean but Rose doesn't want to see him" Aj said getting serious.

"But Aj he is sorry! He needs to talk to her and explain everything to her!" Seth said trying to convince her.

"I don't know Seth, she's my best friend and that would be like betraying her. I know for a fact he doesn't want to see Roman" replied Aj trying to get him to understand.

"Listen short one" said Dean walking up to them, "Roman needs this okay? I am not leaving until you give me at least her number"

"Dean!" Seth said when he noticed Aj getting angry. This wasn't going to end well…

"Well guess what Ambrose? You're not getting it!" Aj said smirking at Dean knowing she was making him mad. "Just like you are Roman's best friend, I am Rose's best friend and I am not getting her hurt!"

"What do you know?! Maybe she tells you she doesn't want to see him but deep down you know she does! Maybe she just wants an explanation, an explanation Roman is happy to give her!" Dean yelled clearly upset.

Aj was trying not to show Dean that he was actually scaring her. The last thing she needed was Dean Ambrose knowing he intimidated her. "Nope! Sorry Ambrose…" She smirked at Dean and looked at Seth, her face now serious knowing all of this had just been part of their plan. He had just been nice to her because he wanted something. She didn't know what she had been thinking…

Seth watched Aj walk away and was sure he saw her looking at him with a look of sadness and disappointment

Joe watched his friends walk in and look at him shaking their heads no. He knew Aj wasn't going to budge, what was he going to do now?

"You know, you could always go talk to her yourself…" said Dean. Joe nodded knowing Aj needed to hear his side; he needed to tell her he needed to see Rose.

He stood up and began heading to the divas locker room. Aj saw him walk in and knew why he was here. "Roman, I can't" said Aj getting right to the point.

"Look Aj just listen to me okay?" Joe said with pleading eyes, Aj just nodded looking up at the tall Samoan. "When I saw Rose, I just knew we needed to talk. I haven't been able to stop thinking about her and I owe her an explanation. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her but I made a mistake and I want to fix it. Please Aj! I need to talk to her; I need to tell her I'm sorry. I need to tell her that I'm still in lo-".

Aj noticed he stopped and looked at him curiously. "That you're still what Roman? That you're still in love with her? Yeah right Roman! You are engaged to that bitch you cheated on Rose with. Which by the way is hideous, and doesn't even come close to Rose at all." Aj said making a disgusted face thinking about Tori.

"Look Aj you don't understand okay and you won't. All I know is I need to talk to Rose and fix all of this. "Joe said.

Aj looked at him with a blank look, "Fine, answer me TWO questions". Joe nodded asking her to go on. "Do you love Rose?"

"Of course I do Aj! Why would you even ask that?" Joe said getting frustrated.

Aj nodded calmly, "Okay, Okay next question". Joe nodded and Aj just glared at her waiting for his reaction, "Do you love Tori?" Joe looked at her taken aback not knowing what to say. He tried saying no but for some reason couldn't. Aj knowing she wasn't going to get an answer walked over to the door and opened it. "Roman just get out. You've hurt my friend too much already; I'm not letting you hurt her again. Enough is enough" Aj said looking at him disappointed, if he really loved Rose he would've said no. She had truly believed he deserved another chance, but now she knew she had been wrong.

Joe looked down walking out feeling his eyes get watery, "Aj please" he said turning around. Aj just looked at him and closed the door, hoping he would finally leave Rose alone.

* * *

Rose ran to Maia and carried her as soon as she saw her walk out of school. "Baby! It's vacation time!" Rose said smiling, "Are you excited?" Maia kept her arms around her mother's neck, "Yes Mama!" said Maia as she nodded. Rose put her in her car seat and started driving home.

"Well guess what?" Rose said smiling.

"What mommy?" Maia answered getting excited.

"Mommy got two more weeks of vacation!" Rose said smiling big, showing her bright smile.

"YAY MOMMY!" Maia said moving up and down on her seat clapping.

"So I was thinking we could go somewhere like maybe go visit grandma and grandpa or travel somewhere and Auntie Aj will meet us there!" Rose said looking at Maia through the rear view mirror. Maia nodded clapping, Rose was happy her daughter was this happy. Maia's happiness was her purpose in life; she kept driving planning the vacations she would have with her lovely daughter knowing they would be the vacations of a lifetime.

* * *

Joe heard a knock on the door of The Shield's hotel room. He saw Dean wasn't getting up and Seth was in the shower so he got up and opened the door revealing the petite diva Aj. He was surprised to see her there.

"May I come in?" asked Aj looking up at Joe. Joe nodded and opened the door letting her walk in.

"Look Roman, I know you hurt her before, but she does need an explanation. Without it, I don't think she'll ever move on. She needs to move on from all of this and so she can forget and be happy. "Aj said with a serious face. Joe nodded, "Aj I underst-"Aj put her hand up, "I'm not done Roman". Dean looked at Joe shocked and mouthed "What a bitch!" Joe shook his head trying not to laugh.

Aj looked at him and turned around, "This was a mistake". Joe tried running to the door but stopped once he saw Aj stop on her tracks when Seth walked out of the bathroom with only a towel around his waist. Aj couldn't stop staring and when Seth noticed and smiled she blushed hard and turned back to Joe. She didn't know what to do anymore, should she tell Joe where Rose is or not? She looked at Joe for a long time and made her decision.

* * *

Rose woke up the next day feeling the bright sun on her face. This time she turned and smiled seeing Maia sleeping next to her. They had stayed up watching Tangled and Frozen until Maia fell asleep. She still had her tiny arms around Rose's arm as she slept. Rose tried moving her, but Maia just looked up scared; "What's wrong Mommy?" Rose looked into her daughter's grey eyes and smiled. "I'm gonna go make breakfast honey, you want pancakes?" asked Rose smiling. Maia nodded and let her mom go. Rose smiled and headed to the kitchen taking out what she needed. She went back to her room to wear something more comfortable since she hadn't changed last night. She put on some short shorts she found and a spaghetti shirt, it was very hot outside.

She began cracking the eggs but stopped when she heard a knock on the door. 'Wonder who it is'. Rose headed to the door and opened it surprised to see who it was.

"Hey Rose…"

**Well this one was long! Lol but when inspiration hits, you can't stop it **** Thank you to all of those who are reading and reviewing this story. It really does mean a lot. **


	7. Broken

**Hey Guys! Here is chapter 7 of Escaped… Tell me what you think..Enjoy!**

"Hey Rose…" Rose stood there not believing what she was seeing; she stood there frozen in spot. 'I must be going crazy' she thought.

"Joe? What are you doing here? How in the world did you find me?" asked Rose, she stood there frozen in spot. She wasn't sure how to react if she didn't even know what she was feeling.

"I came because I needed to see you…" Joe said but quickly realized it may have come out wrong… but was it a lie? "We need to talk…" Joe noticed the short shorts Rose was wearing and couldn't stop staring at her body. 'Damn she looks good" he thought.

"Look Joe right now isn't a good time… and I don't even want to know how you found me. I thought I had told you to leave us alone!" Rose said as she stepped out of the house and carefully closed the door. She didn't need Maia waking up right now and seeing "Roman Reigns" at our door.

"Is it ever a good time Rose? You always agree to talk and then end up leaving before saying anything!" Joe said trying to keep his volume down. He was beginning to get frustrated; Rose was making this very difficult for him.

"Well I told you to leave me and my daughter alone Joe; there is nothing to talk about." Rose said but noticed Joe was not going to change his mind, "But since I know you won't leave any time soon, come back in about an hour. Maia has a play date today so I'll take her and come back to the house". Joe nodded and smiled at Rose. He finally had the chance to talk to her. Rose gave him a small smile before turning and opening her door again. "I'll see you later Rose", Joe said smiling. Rose just nodded and closed the door. She stood against the door and slid down to the floor. 'This is going to be fun' she thought sarcastically.

* * *

After Rose got Maia to eat her breakfast, she showered her and got her ready for her play date. She made sure all of Maia's favorite toys were in her bag before heading to Maia's friend's house. While driving, Rose noticed her hands shaking. The thought of being alone with him at her house made her feel nervous. What would he say? What would he talk about? Maybe he just wants to make sure I'm okay with the whole "I'm engaged to your old best friend that I cheated on you with" thing. She decided to relax and park outside Maia's friend's house. She got out and bent down to kiss her daughter goodbye and headed home.

Once she got there, she ran upstairs to change. She had to change into something more appropriate, she had caught Joe staring at her with those shorts which kind of made her blush. Since she showered before taking Maia; she just put some skinny jeans on and a random shirt in her closet, she brushed her hair and made sure she looked presentable. She didn't know why she even tried; his opinion should not matter anymore. Rose jumped when she heard the sound of someone knocking on the door. She looked at herself in the mirror one more time and ran to the door. 'Breathe Rose breathe… 1,2… 2 and ½…3" Rose thought and finally got the courage to open the door. Looks like Joe had also changed, he looked… oh my god.

Joe noticed Rose staring and smiled, "Can I come in?"

Rose looked at Joe feeling uneasy. Maybe this was a mistake, but he was already here, "Uhh…yeah come in…" Joe smiled and walked in.

"Want something to eat or drink? Coffee, soda, water?" asked Rose. She was a nervous wreck right now; this man always had that effect on her.

"No thanks, I actually want you to come and sit by me so we can talk" Joe said patting the seat next to him on the couch.

"I think across is fine" Rose said smiling and sat on the couch farther away from Joe. Joe just nodded and smiled.

"Look Rose, I need to apologize" Joe said and Rose nodded waiting for him to continue. "What I did the other day was out of line. I shouldn't have just surprised you like that after the show. I just really needed to talk to you" Joe continued. Rose just looked at him, "Well I'm here right? What is it Joe?" Joe nodded and kept going, "What happened with Tori a few years ago is something I can't take back. We both got drunk and went to your apartment to see you but yo-"Rose shook her head looking down, "Joe I don't want to know what happened that night, I don't want to know why it happened, I don't want to remember what happened. If that's what you came for then just…" Rose stood up heading for the door but Joe grabbed her wrist and sat her back down next to him.

Rose felt a little uncomfortable being this close to Joe, so she decided to look down. "Rose I'm really sorry. I know it may be hard to listen to this but it needs to be said" Joe said as Rose kept shaking her head no. "We both got drunk and went to your apartment to see you but you weren't there. We waited for you and talked for a while. She had gotten rejected so she was feeling down so I-"Rose stood up tired of listening to him; she didn't need to listen to this crap. "So you made her feel better by sleeping with her in my apartment Joe? You really need to leave NOW!" Rose said heading to the stairs. Joe ran and blocked her way; Rose turned trying to stay calm. She brushed her fingers through her hair, what was Joe trying to do? Torture her? Make her hurt even more?

"Joe please stop!" Rose said as her eyes were feeling a little moist. "Rose I didn't plan on it happening! I'm sorry!" Joe said looking at her, but Rose just turned feeling the tears streaming down her face. She tried not to look at him while she was completely losing it. "Hurting you was never my intention Rose that is the last thing I wanted!" Joe said trying to get her to understand, or to look at him.

Rose didn't think Joe knew the damage he was doing to her right now. She tried muting him, she to not listen to him at all. She tried going to the kitchen but he was too fast for her. Why was he making her listen to this? Why was he basically stabbing her heart over and over again? She turned again not wanting Joe to see her crying her eyes out. "Rose I didn't plan on any of it happening not even-" Joe said but Rose turned to him and pushed him. "Shut up Joe! Just stop already! Stop hurting me over and over again! JUST STOP!" Rose yelled as loud as she could. She kept pushing Joe, punching him as she let the tears fall. Joe closed his eyes, letting her let it out. She tried pushing him to the door but he just wouldn't leave!

Rose tried heading to the couch but started feeling dizzy, she held on to a table to keep her balance. Joe saw her and went to her to check on her. He tried to help her but she pushed him away again. She turned and looked at him, her eyes red from all the crying. She looked at him with pleading eyes for him to leave but finally realized there was one thing she wanted to ask him.

"Joe…" Rose said softly, so softly Joe could barely hear her. "Yeah?" he answered. "Can I…Can I ask you something?" Rose said trying to breathe right, Joe nodded. She looked down preparing herself for the answer she might get and finally looked up. "Joe…Do you love her?" Rose asked looking into his eyes with hope. She still loved him with all her heart, she knew it. She looked at him waiting for an answer but broke when she saw his face. Joe looked at her not knowing what to say. He tried to say something; he tried to say anything but he couldn't. Rose looked at him and looked down, feeling her breath get uneven again. She bit her lip as she began sobbing quietly. "You do don't you?" Rose said but came out only as a whisper.

Joe stood there feeling his eyes getting moist as well at the sight of Rose like this. They both stood there not moving at all, he just looked at her and she kept looking down crying so softly she felt invisible; she looked so small. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, surprised when she let him. Her face buried in his chest crying, holding on to him for dear life. Joe took in her scent, not knowing if he was going to be able to ever again. Rose felt so weak; she felt she had been broken apart. She finally looked up at him but got away when Joe leaned down closer to her. "No, Joe I can't" Rose said looking out the window. "I will not do to Tori what you both did to me. What would that make me if I did?" Joe looked down and nodded, he began heading to the door with Rose right behind him. Rose opened it for him trying to remain calm. He looked at her and kissed her forehead and hugged her again. Rose closed her eyes when she felt his lips on her skin again and his arms around her small body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. She got onto her tippy toes and whispered in Joe's ear, "Goodbye Joe". Joe pulled away and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Rose fell down to the floor, now that Joe wasn't there to keep her on her feet. She cried and cried for what seemed hours before she finally got the strength to get up. 'He loves her…' she thought. She went to her room and locked the door; then headed to the bathroom and turned on her shower. She tried to calm herself down and relax under the hot water. Joe drove to his hotel and closed the door. He walked over to the sofa but threw everything on the table to the wall. He sat down pissed at himself, Rose had basically given him a chance and he blew it! He just blew it and destroyed everything. He sat on the bed trying to calm down. He had ruined everything, but worst of all he had hurt her again. Rose got out and changed before heading to the bed to sleep this pain away. She got under her covers and tried to keep warm. Sleeping looked like her only medicine at the moment.

* * *

After a few hours Rose picked Maia up and got home to give Maia her dinner. She helped her into her pajamas and smiled at her daughter before turning her light off. Since she hadn't eaten all day, Rose made herself a sandwich and went to the living room to watch TV. She sat there trying to focus on the TV but couldn't. She then heard a knock on the door and got up fast. She ran to the door hoping it was Joe but was disappointed seeing Steve.

"Steve? What are you doing here? I'm on vacation remember?" Rose said confused.

Steve nodded but frowned, "Rose I need your help, this new case came up and I need you to come back. It won't take long and since you're the only secretary that is actually good and patient with this I would really like you to join me. "

"Join you? What do you mean?" Rose asked still confused.

"The new case is in another state, so I would like you and Maia to join me. You can start your vacations after this case I promise. It's just really important." Steve said looking at her with pleading eyes. "

"Where is the case at?" Rose asked.

"Pensacola, Florida" Steve answered in a hurry.

Rose looked at him and thought about it. She and Maia needed a good vacation, and we could go have fun in our own time. I mean Florida sounds fun and exciting with the beach and everything…

"Okay fine, I'll Go"

**Well it looks like Rose is looking to get away… But we all know she can't keep running forever. This chapter was very hard to write guys! It broke my heart writing the Joe and Rose part. But well how did you guys like it? Please review! Thank you for all the support**

**-By the way: Did you guys think it was wrong when Joe forced Rose into listening to him? Or do you guys think he was right to do that? Let me know! **


	8. Hello Pensacola!

**Hey guys, here is chapter 8 of Escaped! Hopefully you guys enjoy..!**

Roman dropped his bags as he walked in and closed the door. He looked around his immense house, seeing it was calm and quiet. 'Tori must not be home', Roman thought as he went upstairs. He really wasn't in the mood to talk to her anyways; it was mainly about going out to expensive restaurants and stuff like that since he was finally home. He just wanted to lie down and relax after a horrible week. Roman sat down on his bed and looked at a photo of him and Tori together on the night stand. 'Till today, he wonders how this happened. He thought back to the night that changed everything. If he could turn back time, would he change it?

"_Come on Joe! Another drink!" Mike yelled laughing. They were celebrating their big win tonight! All the reason to celebrate, but without Rose it just wasn't fun. It wasn't the same, even though he must have had a couple of drinks already. Joe shook his head and all the guys yelled in disapproval. Joe just laughed and walked to some place quieter. He tried calling Rose but she didn't answer, since she wasn't feeling good maybe she took a nap. He felt like such a jerk coming without her, he needed to take care of her like she always took care of him. He tried calling one more time, but hung up when he felt a tap on his shoulder. _

"_Hey big guy…" said Tori with a half smile. Joe could tell she was very drunk but also very upset._

"_Hey Tor, you okay?" asked Joe concerned, he had never seen Tori like this. Her and Rose were always alive and cheerful. He knew something was seriously wrong._

_Tori just shrugged and smiled, "Turns out the guy I thought was my boyfriend only wanted me for sex! According to him, we were never going out" Tori said as she drank more of her beer. She looked down, "I don't know Joe I just feel like shit right now" _

_Joe just looked at her and hugged her; he didn't know what else to do. Usually Rose was the one she told this to. "Well I was heading to Rose's apartment, if you want to come and tell her what happened. She's good at this you know" Joe said smiling trying to cheer her up. _

_Tori just nodded and walked out with him drinking more of her beer. As Joe drove to the apartment she shared with Rose, Tori couldn't help but admire his good looks. Joe was a hot guy, Rose was so lucky. Tori would just kill to have a sweet, hot, sexy guy like Joe. Dirty thoughts were crossing her mind, and in the back of her mind she knew it was wrong but for some reason she didn't care. She was so angry and tired of being used by guys; she deserved a good guy for once! She tried so hard to find her prince charming and yet Rose didn't have to try at all. Joe just looked at Tori staring at him and smiled, 'She must be very drunk' he thought and chuckled a little. Tori just felt shivers all over her body at the sound of his deep and sexy chuckle. He parked and got out of the car, heading to the 2__nd__ floor to the apartment. He looked back and saw a drunk Tori struggling to get out of the car. He ran back and helped her get to the apartment. She smiled and held onto his strong arms, feeling his muscled body guiding her._

"_Thanks" Tori said as she sat on the couch smiling at Joe. She watched as he went to close the door, god he was sexy. She went to Rose's room but smiled when she saw she wasn't there. She went back out and looked at Joe innocently, "She's not here Joe, maybe she went to get some medicine" she said and Joe nodded sitting down on the couch. "While we wait, do you want a beer?" Tori asked smiling. "Sure, yeah" Joe said and Tori walked away smiling. She got four beers out, two for him and two for her, and sat down next to him. He got his cans and thanked her. They began to drink their beers and started talking about the game and other things. She could tell that Joe was getting more and more drunk with every sip of beer he took. She began getting closer and closer to him on the couch while laughing at his jokes._

_She began by touching his arm while she laughed, and then touched his chest as they spoke. Joe was too drunk to even notice the small things she was doing. She then began caressing his face leaning closer to him, Joe noticed and stood up. "Tori what are you doing?" Joe asked confused and dizzy at the same time. Tori just stood up and sat him back down, "Relax Joe, nothing bad's gonna happen" she said with a smirk on her face. She held on to his shoulders as she straddled his lap. Joe tried pushing her off without hurting her but she moved her body against him turning him on with every touch. Joe tried but couldn't resist on the feelings he was getting, he felt Tori moving faster and faster against him; her hands traveling lower under his jeans and boxers. All that was on his mind was Rose, until Tori kissed him; then all his thoughts went away. He felt himself stand up and pick Tori up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, keeping his body close to hers as their lips never broke contact. They ended up on her bed as they undressed each other. They kept kissing and kept touching each other all over. They heard a noise outside but chose to ignore it as the heat of the moment was too much. He kissed her whole body but stopped when he heard the Tori's desk move. They both turned and saw Rose standing there in shock, her eyes watery, and her whole body shaking. "Carry on, don't let me stop you" was all Rose said before slamming the door closed and running to her room. Joe tried to stand up but Tori pulled him back down against her naked body. Joe was about to give in again but remember Rose's saddened face. "TORI STOP! " He yelled pushing her away and got up. He went after Rose and knocked on her door, but she didn't answer. He kept knocking but still nothing so he just opened the door, walked over to the bed and sat down. "Whoever it is " Rose said as Joe saw her body slowly moving as she sobbed quietly. _

"_Rose talk to me please" Joe said. He felt dizzy, he was still very wasted._

_She finally stood up and looked at him. "What do you want?"_

"_Rose look you understand right? I was celebrating and having fun! We won our game and I was just celebrating. Since you didn't feel good I went to celebrate somewhere else but you know I love you" replied Joe smiling knowing Rose would understand him._

_His mind completely changed as Rose looked at him with disbelief. "You LOVE me? Listen Joe why don't you just leave before I give you the slap of your life." replied Rose angrily. Joe felt his body tense up. Joe and alcohol didn't mix well, whenever he drank he turned into a complete different person. _

_Joe looked at her confused and smirked at her. "You know YOU need ME right? I don't need you Rose. I can have any girl I want as I just showed you. Who would want you? Nobody Rose NOBODY". Tears fell down Rose's cheek as his words broke her heart but for some reason he didn't care. He just looked at her as she cried. Rose pushed him as hard as she could and Joe saw the door slam on his face. He saw Tori go to him and try to wrap her arms around him but he pushed her away. He looked at her with so much anger and walked away to get his stuff and left the apartment. _

He put his face on his hands as he remembered what he had said to Rose. He hadn't meant any of it; he was the one who needed her. He remembered looking for her the day after and even weeks later but her schedule had changed. They wouldn't show him the new one, so he had no way of finding her. He tried talking to her friends, to see if they had seen her but they hadn't. It was like she had disappeared. He went to the kitchen and saw more pictures of him and Tori, 'How the hell did this happen?' he thought. He remembered a few weeks later, Tori apologized to him about what had happened. They had started hanging out more and more, maybe that's how he ended up here.

_Joe walked around campus with his hands in his pockets looking around. He saw Tori walking out of class and made eye contact with her. She quickly looked away and walked the other way. Joe hadn't spoken to her in weeks, he knew it was both their fault. He knew she was feeling like shit after doing that to her best friend. Joe ran and caught up to her, "Hey Tor" he said. Tori just nodded and walked faster. He grabbed her arm and turned her around, "Look Tor it's not only your fault, we were both very drunk. It was my fault too." Joe said looking down at her. Tori just looked at him and looked down, "I know but I feel bad by even talking to you" Tori said. Joe nodded and saw her eyes getting watery, he hugged her and at first she tried to get away but then she hugged him back, "Come on, let's go get something to eat" Joe said and Tori nodded. They went to a diner close by, and both tried to forget about Rose. _

Joe's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door close. He saw Tori walk in the kitchen and smile at him. "Hey baby!" she said and hugged him. He hugged her back but couldn't stop thinking about how much he wished it was Rose hugging him. "Let's go eat somewhere tonight, have some fun now that you're home." Tori said and Joe nodded smiling at him. She was about to peck him on the lips but he pretended he didn't notice and went to the fridge to get a soda. Since seeing Rose, all the feelings he thought he had for Tori were going away. But he still knew he felt something for her, no matter how small it was.

* * *

Rose parked outside the hotel her and Maia were staying in. Maia climbed out of the car and jumped up and down excited, "Mama we're in Florida!" she said excitedly. Rose laughed seeing her daughter like this, "How about we go to the beach later on?" Rose said bending down to fix her daughter's hair. "Yes yes yes!" she said going Daniel Bryan on her mother. Rose laughed and held Maia's hand going in the fancy hotel. Steve had gone all out picking the hotel, she was so grateful. She checked in and went up to her room while the hotel's porter took her bags upstairs. She and Maia ran to the balcony checking out the view of the beach. She was excited to start of her and Maia's summer like this.

After picking Maia up from a summer camp she had put her in for when she had to work, she decided to go to the board walk with Maia and get a bite to eat. They walked around and even got in the observation wheel looking at the view of beautiful Pensacola. It looked completely incredible. Maia was the one who was having the most fun, getting in all the rides she could. They stopped for a while when they heard their stomachs growl and went to a restaurant close by. Maia got chicken nuggets and a milk shake with fries, and Rose just got a salad with small fries and a sprite. They talked about where they were going next and laughed about a guy they had seen from the observation wheel.

"Mama, can we go get ice cream next? Please!" Maia said begging her mother. Rose nodded and smiled picking up their tray once they were done. She thanked the workers there and walked away with Maia looking for an ice cream place. She felt Maia pull her hand and run away going in the ice cream place. Rose laughed and followed Maia but stopped when she saw Joe and Tori walk out of a restaurant nearby, 'You have to be kidding me' Rose thought and hurried in the ice cream place. She rolled her eyes remembering Joe and Tori together; they did not make a cute couple.

Joe was sure he saw Rose going in the Boardwalk Café. He smiled at Tori, "Let's go in the café, I'm in the mood for some ice cream" Joe said smiling, Tori nodded and walked in with him. He smiled seeing her bending down picking an ice cream with Maia. He didn't know why but he instantly got happy seeing that little girl. "Omg Joe there's Kathy! Let's go say hi!" Tori said pulling Joe away. Rose turned thinking she had heard Joe but saw no one. She paid and went with Maia to the beach. She let Maia play in the sand while she sat alone looking at her daughter smiling. "Maia! Don't go too deep okay? It's getting late so you can only play for a little!" Maia nodded and kept playing staying in the shore. Rose smiled and stood up taking off her shorts and shirt, staying in only her bikini. She put her back against the sand feeling the sun on her body. She felt her body relax and closed her eyes. She hadn't felt this relaxed but her body tensed up when she felt someone lay down next to her. She opened her eyes seeing Joe looking at her with a half smile. "Joe? What are you doing here" she said about to sit up but Joe grabbed her waist and brought her back down. "I live here Rose, what are you doing here?" Rose looked at him and turned looking up at the ski "Work, boss really needed me". Joe nodded and couldn't help getting hard looking at Rose in her bikini. She looked amazing; she was in great shape, still beautiful as ever. Rose realized Joe was being too quiet and turned to look at him. She saw him looking at her and her whole body and she had to admit she felt a little heat on the back of her neck, she was sure it wasn't from the sun.

She smiled seeing his face and nudged him, "My face is up here you perv" she said laughing. He chuckled and looked up at her, "Sorry can't help but look, baby girl you look amazing" Rose blushed hearing him call her that. She remembered he used to call her that all the time. She looked away and stood up, "Thank You Joe but I gotta run" Joe stood up trying to figure out if he had said something wrong. "Okay but how long are you going to be here in Pensacola?" Rose looked up at him, "Why Joe?" Joe got closer to her and whispered in her ear while he grabbed her tiny waist "I need to see you again" Rose closed her eyes feeling his touch but quickly got away, " I don't know Joe, I can't" she said walking away. "Fine Rose but if you want to, meet me here tomorrow night. " He yelled as he watched her walk away.

Rose went to Maia and began walking back to the hotel. She couldn't stop thinking about his offer, she was feeling so confused. Should she meet up with him tomorrow night or not?

**Well now you know how it all happened! It looks like Rose and Joe can't stay away from each other for long…**

**But seriously guys, do you think Rose should meet up with Joe or not? Review and tell me if you think she should or shouldn't. Thank you for reading the story! You guys are awesome! **


	9. The Decision

**Hey Guys! Here is chapter 9 of Escaped, Thank you so much to those who have reviewed and have honestly commented on this story! You know who you are; thank you it means and helps a lot. Well here it is, Enjoy! **

_Rose smiled seeing Maia through the window playing outside in the back yard with her friends. She looked back down and kept washing the dishes deep in thought. She closed her eyes, her smile getting even bigger when she felt strong arms around her waist and felt someone kiss the back of her neck. "Hey there" Rose said as she turned around. "Hi" Joe said with a smirk on his face, he leaned in and gave her a kiss filled with love and passion. Rose smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. She had never felt so much happiness in her life, well that is until she heard the front door close. "Hey Hun!" she heard a familiar voice say. "Mommy!" Maia yelled and Rose saw her run into the arms of the one and only, Tori. She felt her stomach drop, she felt sick. She didn't see Joe with her anymore, she saw him coming down the stairs and smile kissing Tori passionately "How is my beautiful wife?" Joe said and kissed her again. 'Wife?' Rose thought, she started holding her head feeling dizzy. She saw the three smiling at each other and felt her legs give out. She fell to the floor and everything went black. _

Rose sat up quickly and felt her heart beating fast. 'Oh god it was only a dream, correction a nightmare!' She thought and turned over looking at Maia still asleep. She stood up and quietly went to the restroom, not wanting to wake her sleeping beauty up. She looked at herself in the mirror, trying to make up her mind. 'Should I see Joe tonight?' she thought, 'I mean last time we saw each other he hurt me so much again' she continued deep in thought. She heard Maia talking to someone saying "Yes with ice cream please" Rose walked out to see what was going on. She found her five year old talking on the phone with room service, "Maia Caverly, cancel that order right now" Rose said trying to hold in her laughter, Maia frowned and cancelled it. She hung up and looked at her mother frowning, "But Mama I'm hungry!" Maia said, "Well then let's get you ready so we can go eat, come on"

Rose showered and got dressed after she freshened Maia up as well. They were looking online for a restaurant close by when she heard her phone ring. She got it and was surprised when she saw the caller ID. "Hey Steve, what's up? I thought you didn't need me today" Rose said as she kept looking for restaurants. Maia pointed to one and Rose clicked on it to see how far it was. "Yeah I know I actually called to see if you and Maia wanted to join me for breakfast" Rose looked down at Maia and put the phone on mute, "Steve said if we wanted to join him for breakfast, what do you say?" Rose said and smiled when Maia smiled and nodded. Rose unmuted the phone, "Sure Steve, where do you want to meet up? She said getting ready to Google the place. "Great! How about the Native Café?" Steve said and Rose smiled seeing it was just six minutes from their hotel. "Okay! See you there Steve"

Rose and Maia both smiled seeing Steve standing outside a small café. "Hey Steve" Rose said and walked up to him giving him a hug. He smiled and once he let go, he bent down to give Maia a hug as well. "How are you ladies?" Steve asked as he got back up, "Very hungry" Maia said frowning holding her stomach which made both Rose and Steve laugh and walk into the café. They ordered what they wanted and waited for their food to arrive, "So did the papers you told me to look up yesterday help the case or not?" Rose asked as she picked up her coffee and drank some. "They did actually, they bought us more time with the judge; so now we can calm down and look through the documents without having to rush" Steve answered. Rose sarcastically clapped of excitement and said, "Yay! More paperwork" which made Steve roll his eyes "Haha Rose, very funny" She smiled at him and saw Maia clap when the food arrived. They ate and laughed at the funny and adorable things Maia did and also discussed her birthday which was coming up.

Rose looked down at her phone when she heard it ring, "Sorry I have to take this" Steve nodded and Rose stood up after telling Maia to behave before walking out to answer her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Hun, how are you?"Aj said once her friend answered

"Aj! Sweetie hi, I'm good how about you?" Rose answered her best friend.

"I've been good, where are you? You haven't been answering the phone at the house" Rose looked down remembering she hadn't told Aj she was going to Florida.

"I'm in Pensacola, on a job sort of vacation as well" She said and Aj frowned hearing Pensacola.

"Uh Rose, There's something you gotta know" Rose smiled knowing what Aj was going to say.

"I know Joe's here. I bumped into him yesterday, he asked me to meet up with him tonight. And sweetie I don't know what to do." Rose said feeling herself get uneasy again at the thought of Joe. Aj looked down knowing last time she messed up and gave Joe Rose's address, he had hurt her again.

"Honey, don't do it, he hurt you and you've given him a chance to talk already. He doesn't deserve it Rose, he doesn't" Rose nodded understanding what Aj was saying but still wasn't sure.

"AJ I don't know, Maia's birthday is coming up and since he's her father I would feel horrible if he wasn't there." Aj looked up frustrated, "Rose he wasn't there before, what's so different now?"

"Well the fact that I saw him again and know where he is Aj, it makes a big difference. " Aj nodded and looked up at the ceiling thinking of what to say.

"You're right Rose, he deserves to know about Maia but that's it" Aj said and Rose nodded. "Yeah I know, so what's up with you?" Rose said trying to change the subject.

"Nothing much, here at home since I didn't know where you guys where!" Aj said

"I'm so sorry AJ, I forgot" Rose answered feeling bad for her best friend, "It's okay Hun, I'm fine" Aj said reassuring her friend, "Go have fun and tell Maia hi for me"

"Will do sweetie, talk to you later" Rose said and walked back in after they said their goodbyes. She smiled seeing Maia and Steve "Arm Wrestling" knowing he was letting Maia win and walked back to the table. "Ouch Steve; beaten in arm wrestling by a five year old? That's gotta hurt" Rose said smirking at Steve while he rolled his eyes and laughed. "I know Mama, I'm just too strong" Maia said which made Rose laugh even more.

They paid the bill and Steve walked them back to the hotel. Rose smiled and was about to say goodbye when Steve interrupted her, "Wait Rose, umm well look, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight" Rose looked at him surprised thinking they were just friends, but clearly Steve seemed to disagree. Rose then remembered she had to meet up with Joe tonight, now she was even more confused. "Umm I don't know Steve; I don't know where Maia could stay. I'm sorry; I'll call you later and answer you then." Rose said and looked down when she saw Steve give her a disappointed look, "Oh… yeah sure that's fine, talk to you later Rose" Steve said and began heading the other way. Rose was now more confused than ever, should she go with Steve? Or should she give Joe another chance and go with him instead.

Rose was laying down on her bed thinking of what to do. Maia was on the other bed asleep after they had gone to explore Pensacola. They had had a lot of fun and it had distracted Rose for a while, but now she was deep in thought. She decided to go sit outside on the balcony and call Aj. She heard the phone ringing and the more in rang, the faster her foot was tapping.

"Hello?" Rose let out a sigh of relief when she heard Aj's voice. "Hey Aj" Rose said and Aj could tell something was wrong.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Aj said concerned, she paused the show she was watching knowing Rose needed her.

"Well, Steve sort of asked me out" Rose said pulling her knees up to her chest looking out at the beach.

Aj's eyes opened wide, "Steve? Your boss Steve?" AJ asked and was surprised when Rose said yes. "When?"

"That's the thing Aj, he wants to eat dinner tonight" Rose said feeling upset and confused.

"Well Go Rose!" Aj said stating the obvious, meanwhile Rose shook her head.

"I can't Aj" Rose answered looking at the kids running around the beach remembering how everything was easier at that age.

Aj frowned, "Is this about Joe, Rose?" Aj asked knowing the answer already.

"No! Of course not, it's just that I don't know where Maia would stay if I went" Rose said trying to deny the truth, but Aj knew her friend too well.

"The thing is Rose; you weren't thinking about that when you were thinking to meet up with Joe." Aj said and Rose nodded knowing she was right. "Rose, he's looks like a good guy so you should say yes. He gets along with Maia and cares about her. If you want, I can fly there and be there in about 5 hours. I can take care of Maia while you go with Steve."

"What about your job?" Rose asked clearly trying to find excuses; this would be the first time she would go out with a guy that wasn't Joe. All these years, it had only been about Maia and she still wasn't even sure if she wanted to meet up with Joe or not.

"Rose, why do you think Joe is over there? We have a few days off to be at home and rest before the pay per view this Sunday. I could ask Vince for a few more days after the PPV since he's very understanding." Aj said getting annoyed with her friend trying to find excuses.

Rose finally gave in, "Fine Aj, you win. We're staying on the Hilton hotel on the Pensacola beachfront."

"Got it Hun! Seen you in a few hours" Aj said and hung up not giving Rose a chance to back out. Rose stood up and sighed, she knew what she had to do. She dialed Steve's phone and agreed to meet up for dinner.

* * *

About 5 hours later, Rose heard a knock on the door but Maia ran to answer it. "Auntie April!" she yelled and hugged her aunt's leg. Aj laughed and picked her up to kiss her forehead, "what are you doing here Auntie April?' Maia asked confused. "I'm here to see you, little evil one" Aj said and laughed when Maia did he adorable evil smile. Rose stood up and hugged her best friend, "How was the flight?" Rose asked,

"Ehh, it was alright I guess. A few fans here and there but they were very sweet" Aj replied smiling, "So have you called him already?"

"Yeah, we're meeting up at 8 but we agreed that I'd walk over there. He wanted to pick me up but I don't want that. I like walking" Rose replied looking at herself in the mirror while trying some clothes on. Aj shook her head but already knew she wasn't going to change her mind about that, so she just let that slide. She saw Rose with a sad look on her face; she knew it was because of Joe. Aj couldn't help but feel guilty; she was the one that had given Joe Rose's address.

"You okay Rose?" Aj asked going to her friend to hug her. Rose pulled away and nodded, "It's just I let myself get too close to Joe again, thinking I had forgiven him but I haven't. Plus he's with Tori so I really don't know what he wants! He says he's sorry and he didn't mean for it to happen but he's still with her! Not only with her, he's ENGAGED!" Rose said trying to hold the tears in. Aj nodded and looked down, "I know, Rose if you're not ready to do this it's okay"

Rose shook her head and took a deep breath before answering, "No I need to do this, you're right he's a good guy. How else am I gonna move on if I don't even try?" Aj smiled hearing her friend say that, "Good, I'm glad to hear you say that. By the way, I think that's the dress. I mean you said it yourself, he's not taking you anywhere fancy, so I think that's the dress." Aj continued smiling at her friend; Rose looked gorgeous in that dress.

Rose looked in the mirror and saw herself in her Multi GUESS strapless Printed High-Low Maxi Dress. She did look pretty; she liked how it fit her body perfectly. She turned and smiled at Aj nodding her head, "Now the shoes" Rose said looking in the closet. She put on her Moda Spana Heather Wedge Sandals and smiled as she modeled for Aj and Maia. "Mommy you look very pretty" Maia said and Rose smiled when she heard Maia say "vewy" instead of very. She loved her daughter's baby voice, it was too cute. Rose went back in the restroom to fix herself. She put her hair in a half ponytail braid and put on some light make up while Aj and Maia were watching TV.

"Tada!" Rose said as she walked out doing a little turn for them. "Girl you look hot!" Aj said and Maia nodded clapping for her mother. "Thank You Aj for all of this" Rose said and hugged her best friend. "You are so welcome; you know I'm here whenever you need me" Rose pulled away and smiled. She turned and looked at the time knowing she had to go if she was going to walk.

She went in the restroom, put on some perfume, and walked out to give Maia a goodbye kiss, "Don't stay up too late okay?" Rose said and Maia nodded smiling at her mother. She gave Aj one more hug before she walked out. She knew she needed to hurry if she was going to get there in time. Rose looked around at the people walking by, she loved walking. It relaxed her so much; she just loved walking around and seeing things.

She walked by the beach and felt her heart break in tiny pieces seeing Joe there waiting for her. She felt the wind blow through her hair as she watched Joe checking his watch looking back up with a disappointed look on his face, he looked so hurt. Seeing him like this broke her heart; she looked down holding the tears in and kept walking, leaving him behind. A few minutes later she smiled and said hi to Steve as he led her to their table. It was hard being on a date with a different guy, but it was something she was willing to try.

* * *

Joe waited for a few minutes and realized Rose was not coming. He looked down disappointed, knowing he should have expected this. After all he did to her; he should've known she wasn't going to come. He began walking back to his car, feeling so upset. He looked around hoping to not run into some fans, and that's when he saw her. He got closer not believing what he was seeing, when he did he saw Rose sitting down across some guy laughing. Joe blinked a couple of times hoping what he was seeing was not real. 'Is this some kind of joke?' he thought as he was getting angry and saw Rose put her hand on the guy's hand smiling. Joe clenched his fists seeing Rose with another guy; he was pissed knowing she was supposed to meet up with him instead of whoever that guy was. Joe stood there feeling his blood boil all over his body, he definitely didn't like this.

**Well there it is guys, what did you think about chapter 9? I think Joe is being a jerk and a hypocrite, don't you? And what do you think he's gonna do? Tell me what you guys think and review! Thank you for reading! **


	10. The Truth Finally Comes Out

**Hi Guys, here is chapter 10 of Escaped! I can't believe I have actually gotten this far. Thank you for all the reviews and the support. Enjoy! **

"So Rose," Steve said smiling "Tell me more about you. I mean I know you pretty well but tell me things I still don't know about you" Rose nodded and smiled.

"Okay," Rose said "Did you know I was actually thinking of going back to school?" Rose continued and Steve's smile grew even more. He hadn't known that but he was actually very happy for Rose. "No I did not, Rose that's great!" Steve said as he gave her hand a light squeeze. Rose looked down still smiling, "Well yeah I was thinking about it, I mean don't get me wrong, working for you is great" Rose said as Steve listened to her intently, "But I kind of want to do something on my own you know? I don't want to be a secretary forever" Steve nodded, "I understand, I'm actually very happy for you Rose"

"Thank you Steve" she said and they continued talking about anything and everything. As Rose listened to Steve, she realized she had actually had a lot of fun. She wouldn't mind if he asked her out again, she would definitely say yes.

"What are you thinking about?" Steve asked looking at her in the eyes. Rose looked down and blushed; "Nothing in particular" she said looking back up smiling. He was glad she had accepted to come out with him tonight. He had thought she maybe didn't want to give it a shot, but maybe after this date he changed her mind. They kept talking until they noticed the restaurant was almost empty, so they started getting ready to leave. Steve convinced Rose to let him give her a ride, so they headed to the car and drove back to the hotel. Rose knew it was too early to kiss him; she didn't want to ruin things by taking things too fast. So instead, she kissed him on the cheek and thanked him before walking in the hotel. She couldn't help but smile in the elevator all the way to her floor and on her way to her room. She knew Aj and Maia would be asleep already so she had to be very careful.

She started unlocking and opening the door to her room when she saw someone grab the knob and close it again. 'What the fuck' she thought angrily and turned, she looked up surprised to see who it was. "Joe what are yo-" she said but was cut off by Joe who seemed to be pissed off. "Where were you tonight? He asked and by the look on his face, Rose had an idea that he might already know the answer.

"Out, why?" Rose answered looking at Joe in the eyes, "Where?" he asked, his patience growing thin. "Is that any of your business?" she shot at him knowing two could play this game. "Actually it is Rose" Joe shot back and Rose scoffed hearing him say that, "Since when Joe? Since when is what I do any of your business?" Joe looked at her not knowing what to say. "Yeah Joe, that's what I thought" Rose said and was about to turn and open the door but he grabbed her arms and put her against the wall. "Rose, what were you doing with that guy?" he asked looking at her "who is he?" he continued as Rose looked away. "Joe let me go right now!" Rose said looking anywhere that wasn't Joe; their faces were too close for comfort. "Not until you answer me Rose, who is he?" he asked again, "That is none of your business Joe! But you know what? Fine! I was on a date Joe" Rose answered struggling to get out of Joe's grip.

Joe looked at her with disbelief and let her go, "On a date? With him? Why?" he asked trying to keep his cool. Rose was really testing him. "Because I wanted to go Joe, that shouldn't be a problem." Rose said trying to get away from him but his hands were on both sides against the wall. "Well it is Rose; it is a big problem" Joe answered back, "Why Joe? I mean last time I checked you are engaged. Not only that, you're engaged to TORI! So how is me going on a date your problem?" Rose said feeling her blood starting to boil. "It just is Rose! It is my fucking problem!" Joe yelled and Rose pushed him away. "Listen to me Joe; first of all keep your fucking voice down because my daughter is sleeping in that room. Second, don't you ever raise your voice at me again because next time you do not only will I slap you but I will never even give you the time of day. Okay?" Rose said and Joe looked away feeling frustrated but nodded.

"Okay now listen to me carefully, Joe this is my fault" Rose continued while Joe looked at her confused. "I let myself get too close to you thinking I had forgiven you, but I clearly haven't. Seeing you again brought all the pain back, but I was fine before. Plus Joe, you clearly don't know what you want and if you have feelings for Tori well then so be it. But you know what? I will make this decision for you." Rose said feeling her voice crack as Joe shook his head already knowing what she was going to say. "Go with Tori, I am not about to go through all this trouble again. You clearly have feelings for her, and I deserve to be happy too. I will not be in this wild goose chase, waiting for you to make up your mind. So now you don't have to choose anymore. You do not have to feel like you're at a cross road anymore when this is clearly a one way street." Rose said trying to be strong; she was trying so hard to hold in all the tears threatening to come out.

Joe looked at her hoping this was all a nightmare. He didn't want this; he was sure he didn't want any of it. He knew what he felt for Rose was real, but it wasn't fair to keep her waiting. He was engaged, but he was starting to think maybe to the wrong person. Had he realized it too late? Rose kept looking at Joe, wondering what was on his mind. The whole time he had been quiet, and in the back of her mind she wanted him to say something. She knew she would always share a strong bond with Joe because of their past, but they also shared something even bigger. They had a daughter together, and he needed to know that. Rose saw Joe slide down and sit on the floor looking down, so she went and sat next to him.

She felt a teal slide down her face, but she quickly wiped it off not wanting Joe to see her like this. "Joe, there's something else you need to know…" Rose said and saw Joe quickly look up. Rose stood back up wanting to be as far away from him as possible when she told him. "Well, I really don't know how to say this… and maybe you'll hate me for it but you have to know." Rose said looking down not wanting to see his reaction. "Rose, what is it?" Joe said getting closer but looked at her confused when he saw Rose get farther away. "Joe I'm so sorry" Rose said as her emotions were getting the best of her. Joe looked at her confused, "Sorry about what Rose? What's wrong?" Rose looked back up at him with tears in her eyes; Joe couldn't stand seeing her like this so he went to her and hugged her trying to comfort her. "What is it Rose?" he asked again as he held her tight. "Joe..Ma-…Maia is your daughter" she said but Joe didn't really hear her since it came out as a whisper. "What Rose?" he asked her again and Rose cried even harder, this had to be the hardest thing she had ever done in her life.

"Joe…Maia is your daughter" Rose repeated and closed her eyes when she felt Joe's arms let her go. She opened her eyes and saw his face; she knew he had to be in pain after hearing this. He looked devastated. "What?" he asked as he was letting it process. Rose didn't know what to say so she kept repeating I'm sorry to him. He finally looked at her, "Did you really hate me that much Rose?" he asked not knowing who he was talking to anymore. Rose walked closer to him but he got away "Did you hate me so much that you kept my daughter from me? I didn't even know she existed Rose! You kept her from me for years Rose! I didn't even get to see her be born! WHO IN THE HELL DOES THAT?!" He yelled which made Rose cry harder.

Aj heard someone yelling outside and looked over to see if Maia had woken up. She smiled seeing she was still asleep so she stood up and went to tell whoever was fighting to shut the fuck up. She opened the door and quickly walked out and closed it seeing who it was. "How could you do that Rose?" Aj heard Joe say. She looked over and saw Rose crying her eyes out. She quickly walked over and held on to her friend, "Roman you need to leave" Aj said looking at him in the eyes. Roman shook his head, "AJ stay out of it, this is none of your bu-"he continued but was interrupted by the petite diva; "NOW Joe" Aj yelled. He looked at Aj; his eyes filled with anger but decided it was best to leave. He couldn't stand seeing Rose right now. Rose watched him walk away and felt the tears come back out; Aj hugged her friend tight to stop her from crying. "I told him Aj" Rose said as she cried, "I told him and he hates me" she continued and Aj looked down while she hugged her friend. "Come on Rose, you need to rest." AJ said and led her in the room. Rose went to Maia's bed and lay down next to her daughter. She pulled Maia into her arms and kept crying softly. She didn't know what was going to happen with Joe, but she knew she had to be strong for what was going to come.

* * *

Joe woke up the next morning to the sight of his immense living room. He remembered not wanting to sleep in his room with Tori last night, after everything that had happened. He quietly went to his room and got some jeans, a navy blue shirt, and his shoes without waking Tori up. He showered in one of the guest rooms and changed quickly before putting his hair in a bun and getting his keys. He got in his car and headed to Rose's hotel. He had to see Maia, since the moment he saw his little girl he had felt something; but he hadn't wanted to admit it. He thought Rose was not capable of hiding his child from him, but clearly she was. He stopped at a children's store by the hotel and went inside to find something for Maia. He saw a section filled with teddy bears and found a lime green teddy bear with white. He knew lime green was Rose's favorite color; hopefully it was Maia's too. He paid for it and walked to the hotel making sure to lock his car before going in. He clicked on the button to Rose's floor and the elevator doors closed.

Rose woke up the next morning to the scent of Maia's hair which smelled like green apple. She gently let her daughter go since she was still asleep and went to the restroom to fix herself. Her eyes were still bloodshot red from all the crying last night. She didn't want Maia to see her like this and get worried. She soaked a washcloth in cold water and pressed it to her eyes for a couple of minutes. She then got some eye drops and started removing the top when she heard a knock on the door. 'Ugh!" she thought, she put the eye drops down and went quickly so they wouldn't wake up Aj and Maia. "Yes?" she said but stayed quiet when she saw Joe. He looked at her and felt his anger coming back, but he knew he needed to keep his cool and remain calm. "Hey Rose, I was wondering if maybe I could see Maia" he said looking at her deep in the eyes. No matter how hard she had tried to cover it, he could still see her eyes sort of red.

Rose nodded and gave him a small smile, "She's asleep though" she said and Joe nodded walking in the hotel room. He smiled instantly seeing his baby girl asleep. He had never seen a little girl more beautiful in his life, but maybe dads were supposed to feel this way right? He looked at Rose and asked her if he could get closer and she nodded, "go ahead" she whispered. He sat down on the bed and started caressing Maia's face smiling, he couldn't believe he was a father. Rose hadn't noticed AJ getting up and walking to her. She was too distracted at the sight of Joe and Maia. "What is he doing here?" Aj whispered and Rose jumped scared before looking at her, "He knows about Maia, he wanted to see her" she answered and Aj nodded.

Maia slowly opened her eyes and saw Roman Reigns sitting there smiling at her. At first she was confused but then her eyes open wide, "Mommy!" she said as she sat up looking for her mother scared. "Mommy where are you" she said as her lips started quivering. "Honey honey, I'm right here" Rose said as she rushed to Maia's side and wrapped her arms around her. Joe looked down upset, but understood since Maia only knew him as Roman Reigns and not as her father. Maia held on to her mom and looked up at her confused, "Mama, what is Roman Reigns doing here?" she asked and Rose looked down smiling at her. "Well sweetie there's something I got to tell you" Rose said as she pulled Maia on her lap. Maia nodded but Joe shook his head, "Before mommy tells you, how about I take you three for some breakfast" Joe said and Rose looked up at him and then at Aj. Aj nodded, Maia said yes, and Rose gave in as well so Joe have them a few minutes to freshen up and headed to a diner close by. He loved that place because it was so small and private.

Once they got there, they ordered what they wanted and Aj excused herself knowing this was a family matter and went to the restroom. Rose looked up at Joe wondering if he was ready and smiled when he nodded. "Okay, sweetie like I said before there's something I got to tell you" Rose said and Maia just looked at her waiting. "Well you see Roman and I already know each other." Rose said trying to explain it to Maia, "We were actually really good friends" Rose said trying to find the PG explanation for Maia. Maia nodded, "Like you and Mr. Steve?" Maia asked. Joe looked up at Rose as his jaw tightened, while Rose shook her head. "No no, like really really good friends, so since we were really good friends we loved each other… a lot!" Rose said looking at Maia to see if she understood, Joe couldn't help but chuckle at the way Maia was looking at Rose; she looked so confused but still nodded. "So since we shared a big big love for each other, we one day had you." Rose said hoping Maia understood because she didn't know how else to explain it to a five year old.

Maia looked down letting it all process, but then looked up with a big smile. "So…Roman Reigns is my daddy?" she asked. Rose nodded, "Actually his name is Joe." She added. Maia looked over to Joe and stared at him for a couple of minutes. Joe gave her a small smile before going to sit next to Maia and Rose. Maia kept looking at him and Joe looked down at her, "Hey baby girl" he said smiling. Maia gave him the biggest smile before standing up on the booth they were sitting on and jumped on him giving him the biggest hug ever. Joe chuckled as he hugged his daughter back tight and Rose looked on feeling her eyes getting watery. Joe looked up as he hugged Maia and saw a tear fall on Rose's face so he quickly wiped it away and smiled at her. 'Thank You' Joe mouthed and Rose nodded as she smiled.

Aj poked her head out and saw Maia sitting on Joe's lap talking to him excitedly and poking his tattoo, while Rose looked on smiling. She sat back down across from them once the food arrived and Maia looked at Aj, "Auntie April, are you okay? You were in the restroom for a long time" Maia said emphasizing long. All three laughed and began eating; Maia never left her father's lap. She even kept stealing food out of Joe's plate, while Joe just chuckled and let her. He looked over to Rose and she looked up at him smiling, they knew they were going to have to talk about this. But for now, they were just going to enjoy some fun family time.

* * *

Since Tori woke up to an empty bed and an empty house, she decided to go out shopping with some friends. They were walking holding multiple shopping bags and each their own latte. She was telling them about the wedding planning when she was interrupted by one of her friends, "Um Tor? Isn't that Joe?" she asked pointing inside a dinner. Tori quickly turned and felt herself about to explode at the sight of Joe eating breakfast with Rose and her little brat. But what really set her off was the fact that Joe was carrying that little girl giving her a green teddy bear. She stood there crossing her arms and narrowed her eyes at them, "Hell No…"

**Uh Oh, Looks like Tori isn't a big fan of family time huh? What do you think she is going to do? And what do you think is going to happen, now that Joe knows about Maia? Let me know and please Review! Until next time, I promise I will try and update soon… Bye! **


	11. In this together

**Hey Guys! Here is chapter 11 of Escaped; I hope you guys like the story so far. Thank you for reading… so here we go, Enjoy!**

"Hell No…" Tori said lowly and looked over at her friends smiling, "Yes it is Joe! Let's go say hi girls" she said and headed to the diner.

Rose and Aj tried to hold in their laughter as Maia played with Joe's long hair braiding it. He didn't mind at all, instead he just smiled at her and let her keep playing.

"Hi honey!" Joe heard someone say and closed his eyes recognizing the voice. Tori just walked up to him and gave him a long kiss on the lips. Maia got off of her dad's lap and hugged her mom tight, looking at them feeling uncomfortable. Tori pulled away and smiled at everybody, but was met with Aj's death glare, 'so that must be Tori' Aj thought looking at the blonde up and down, she did not like her already. She looked at Rose to check if she was okay, but smiled when she saw Rose talking to Maia and playing with her trying to cheer her up.

"Hello Guys, I'm Tori but of course Rose you already know me" Tori said with a smile, AJ just nodded and looked away annoyed while Rose just looked at her and smiled back waving at her; but deep down inside, she wanted to claw her eyes out. "These are my best friends Amber and Shannon" she said and the other girls said hi. They both pulled two chairs over to the table to join them while Tori just sat on Joe's lap.

"So Rose…" Rose looked up trying to fake a smile, "how have you been?" Tori said with a smile on her face. If it was up to Rose, she would have slapped the smile off her face already. Instead, she remained calm and took a deep breath, "I've been good Tori, and you?" Rose asked although she could care less what the answer was. "I've been great! Actually super busy with the _wedding _planning you know?" Tori answered putting an emphasis on wedding, the smile never leaving her face. Rose nodded and put her focus back on her daughter, not wanting to let her see the hurt in her eyes hearing her say wedding. Amber and Shannon could tell Tori didn't like this Rose girl, so they decided to help their friend out. "So Rose, you and Tori already know each other?" Amber asked Rose nodded while still focusing on Maia. "So that means you know Joe as well…" she continued and Rose clenched her fists trying to remain calm. 'The nerve this girl has…' Rose thought looking back up and nodded again.

"Oh goody! I swear they are like the cutest couple ever!" Amber exclaimed while Shannon nodded, "Oh yes they are, and the way they got together was just the cutest thing ever!" Shannon added smiling at Tori and Joe. Joe looked over at Tori getting mad, "Tori cut all of this out now…" Joe mumbled, and Tori turned looking at him innocently "Cut what out, baby?" she whispered to him and tried to kiss him again but he got away. Rose looked at Shannon curiously, "How did they get together?" She asked and saw Joe turn to her surprised.

"Oh well let's see… it was back at Georgia tech..." Shannon said but was interrupted by Tori, "Oh Shannon let me tell her" Shannon nodded smiling and Tori looked back at Rose, "It was back at Tech, at first we didn't talk anymore because of what happened… you know? But then, Joe one day said that we couldn't keep blaming each other knowing we were both to blame. So we slowly started hanging out trying to get things back to normal. We tried to contact you but you were nowhere to be found" Tori said while Joe looked at her, "_Stop Tori, right now_" he whispered harshly but she ignored him and kept going. "Joe kept going with his football career and I tried to be there for him and support him since someone just decided to leave and never come back. I admit, he was very upset and distracted at the time, but I got him to focus again and slowly brought happiness in his life. After tech, he even got signed in the NFL! But I'm pretty sure you didn't know that right Rose?" Tori asked adding a little satisfaction to her tone. Rose looked at her and shook her head, "Yes he did, and he played for teams like the Vikings and the Jaguars. I was there for him, while he was living his dream. I even supported him and stayed by his side when he decided to go into the family business instead of football. Unlike others, I never left his side" Tori said narrowing her eyes at Rose but quickly smiled at her again. Rose just listened to Tori not saying a word; she felt tears wanting to come out but tried her hardest to keep them in. She needed to know why Joe had chosen to be with her out of all people. "Until one day, I remember it was my birthday. He was supposed to be in FCW training at the time, but instead he came back home to me. He had decided to surprise me and thank me for never leaving his side and for always supporting and believing in him. And as my birthday present, you know what I got?" Tori asked not even giving Rose time to answer; "I got this" Tori said and showed Rose her engagement ring.

Rose took a little time to let it process and felt Maia holding onto her tight as if she knew her mommy was hurting. After taking a couple of deep breaths, Rose looked back up at Tori and gave her a bright smile, "Wow Tori that is an amazing love story!" Rose said and Tori nodded smiling back. "So what about you Rose? What happened to you during Tech?" she asked with a smirk on her face. Rose looked down at Maia and smiled, "Well my little angel was born" Rose answered while Maia looked up at her mommy smiling. "Oh really? And who's the daddy?" Tori asked as her smile grew even bigger. "I am" Joe answered Tori; he looked at her and saw her smile had completely faded away. "What?" Tori asked as Amber and Shannon looked at Joe in complete shock. "I'm Maia's father" Joe repeated before he gently pushed Tori off and put Maia back on his lap where she had been before. Tori looked at Rose and felt her blood start to boil when Rose nodded smiling.

AJ sat there, enjoying the sight of Tori freaking out; 'Finally Joe! Finally you do something right!" AJ thought as her smile grew bigger. "Oh really?" Tori asked trying to remain calm, "that's great!" she said and AJ laughed at Tori's sarcasm, "Oh yes it is" Aj added. Tori looked at her angrily but quickly looked away when Aj returned the favor. Tori decided to bend down in front of Maia and try to pretend she was okay with it. "Hi there, I'm Tori" she said smiling and Maia looked at her feeling uncomfortable, "I'm Maia" she replied before she quickly jumped off of Joe's lap and went back to her mom. "Joe I kind of need to talk to you in private" Rose said which made Tori looked at her annoyed, but she got more pissed when Joe nodded and walked away with Rose and Maia. She was about to stand up but was interrupted by the petite diva AJ, "Don't even think about it Blondie, I already don't like you please don't make me kill you" she said and Tori looked at her and scoffed, "And what if I don't want to stay here, midget" Tori shot back, "Well just try and see" AJ simply replied and smiled at her.. Tori decided not to risk it and sat back down.

Joe went outside with Rose and the first thing he did was apologize. Rose just shook her head, "No Joe, whatever. That's not what I wanted to talk about." Rose said and Joe nodded and listened to Rose while Maia held onto his pinky. "Well you see this little angel's birthday is coming up" Rose said looking down and smiling at Maia as she jumped up and down, "Yes daddy! It's on Friday!" Maia added, Joe chuckled and picked his baby girl up, "It is?" he asked Rose and she nodded. "So I was wondering if you wanted to come and hang out with us for the day" Rose offered and Joe nodded and smiled, "Yeah but I have a better idea. How about we throw her a birthday party at my house?" Joe asked hoping Rose would say yes. Maia's eyes widened and looked at her mom, "Mommy please say yes!" Maia said begging her mom. Rose looked at him unsure; she knew Maia wasn't comfortable with Tori around. Plus, she didn't trust Tori at all, so why would she take her daughter to the house she lived in? "I don't know Joe; I don't trust your fiancée." Rose admitted which made Joe laugh. "But you can trust me, please let me show you I am trying as well. I am fully committed when it comes to Maia. I can ask my parents to come and meet her as well. They will be thrilled!" He looked at her waiting for her response. Rose looked at Joe and Maia looking at her with the same adorable pleading eyes and smiled, "Fine! But if she tries anything funny Joe, Maia and I will be the first ones out" she warned and Joe smiled pulling her into a hug. "_Thank you Rose_" he whispered in her ear, she smiled and got onto her tippy toes "_You're welcome Joe" _she whispered back.

He was glad Rose was at least giving him a chance to be part of Maia's life. He knew that because of the situation they might not be together, but when it came to Maia they were on the same page. Maia was the center of both of their worlds and nothing, not even Tori, would change that.

**Well it looks like Tori's plan to hurt Rose failed a little right? Haha. Well we now know how Tori snuck her way into Joe's heart, but now that Maia and Rose are back in the picture; do you think things will change? What do you think is going to happen next? Please review and tell me what you think! Until next time, bye guys! Thank you for everything! I truly mean it… **


	12. Wrong Move

**Hello Hello Guys! Wow, Chapter 12? Wow, I'm surprised and happy you enjoy the story. Anyways, here is chapter 12, enjoy! **

Rose woke up and instantly had a smile on her face. Today was her little baby's birthday! She could not believe Maia was turning six. She slowly sat up, the sunlight illuminating her skin, and carefully walked over to AJ's bed making sure to not wake up Maia in the process. She smacked Aj softly with a pillow and covered her lips holding in her laugh as AJ opened her eyes widely. "_Come on, Get up!"_ Rose whispered and AJ excitedly nodded. They called Room Service to order Maia her breakfast, took out the small cookie cake they had hidden, and made sure Maia didn't wake up.

While Rose and AJ were putting the balloons and decorations around the room, Rose heard a knock on the door. She figured it was room service so she opened and opened her eyes widely seeing it was Joe. She saw his eyes travel down her body and noticed she was wearing her Love pink White tank top and Love Pink Yoga Shorts. She quickly took AJ's robe and put it on while Joe looked away chuckling.

"_Joe? What are you doing here? I thought we were going to see you at your house?" _Rose whispered as she tried to cover up. The way Joe had looked at her made her nervous, 'Jesus Christ he should warn next time!' she thought. "_I came to tell my little princess happy birthday" _Rose nodded and smiled letting him in. She felt his arm brush against hers and felt electricity spread throughout her body. As if Aj knew, she looked at Rose and smirked at her while she shook her head. Rose in response stuck out her tongue at her and looked away. They all gathered around Maia sat down, Rose looked at both of them and smiled, "_On the count of three, one, two, three!"_

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They all yelled in unison and started laughing when they saw Maia shake and open her eyes. At first she looked at them strartled, but after a few minutes she smiled brightly and sat up. "Happy Birthday to me!" she yelled and smiled. Rose laughed and pulled her into a big hug, "Happy birthday my little munchkin! Mommy loves you so so so so much!" Rose said and started giving her a million kisses which made Maia laugh. "Mommy stop it! You're tickling me!" she yelled in between laughs and smiled at her mom when she let her go. Then it was Joe's turn to hug Maia tightly, "Happy Birthday my little angel" He said and kissed her forehead, "You know daddy loves you right?" Joe added and hugged Maia again when she nodded.

"Let me at her!" Joe let Maia go and saw Aj pick her up. "Happy Birthday, you little firecracker!" Aj said as she threw Maia in the air and caught her. Maia laughed and yelled Thank you to all three of them. They made it clear she was going to get her presents at the party, when she asked for them. After Room Service came, they all ate their breakfasts and talked about the party. Maia seemed to be very excited to meet her family. Once everyone was done, Rose went inside the little hotel room kitchen and brought out a small cookie cake. "Here you go Maia, make a wish!" she said smiling and saw Maia stand on her chair, close her eyes, and then blow out all the candles. They all cheered, and each got a piece. While she ate her piece of cake, Rose kept feeling eyes on her so she looked up and locked eyes with Joe. He smiled at her and looked back to Maia when she told them her wish was a big secret. "Oh is it?" Joe asked, "Why is that?' he added looking at Maia curiously. "Because daddy I want it to come true!" Rose smiled and nodded agreeing with Maia. Once they finished and cleaned up, Joe checked the time and had to leave to pick up his parents from the airport. He said his goodbyes and headed to his car.

"I don't think you should go Rose" Rose frowned and turned to Aj, "Why not?" she asked and Aj stood up and sat next to her. "Because Rose, I don't trust that Blondie Tori" Rose bit her lip and looked down nodding. She didn't trust Tori either, but Maia wanted to meet her grandparents so badly. "We've talked about this Aj, I don't trust her either but Maia wants to meet Joe's side of the family. Plus she will have to kill me first if she wants to hurt my baby." Aj smiled at her friend knowing she would do anything to protect Maia, "Fine, but I'm going with you guys" Rose smiled and wrapped her arm around Aj's shoulders, "Of course you are AJ! You're family" and with that, they stood up and went to get ready.

Rose got Maia showered and picked out her outfit. She dressed Maia in a pink peplum shirt, with some jeggings and her pink T-Strap Bow Sandals. She brushed Maia's long dark brown hair, and put it up in a tall bun. Since Maia begged for some, Rose put a little lip gloss on Maia's lips and got her ready to go. Then it was Rose's turn to get ready, so she showered and picked out her own outfit. She put on Jewel Pink Top Blush/Rhinestone, her ripped jean shorts, and her Pink Rhinestone Flat Thong Sandals. Since Joe told them it would be a pool party, she packed her Seafolly Goddess Kiara Coral Bustier bikini Top and Coral Colored Pleated Hipster bikini Bottom and Maia's Little Miss Divine Halter Bikini with some towels and sun block. They let Aj shower and change into black and white crop top, her dark jean shorts with a black and white studded belt, and black flats. She put her black strappy bikini in the bag with the other swim suits and smiled at them ready to go.

"Come on mommy! Let's go" Maia said as she ran to the elevator. Rose laughed and locked the door while Aj chased after Maia. They had called a taxi service to pick them up, so when they went downstairs it was right there waiting for them. They gave the guy the address and headed to Roman's house. Rose looked out the window, getting more and more nervous as they approached the house. Not only was she nervous to see Joe, but she was nervous to see Joe's parents. She had always been close to them before everything happened; she just hoped they didn't hate her. They got to the house and got out of the Taxi; Rose paid the driver and thanked him before going back to Maia. Aj knew Rose wasn't going to be the one to knock, so she decided to do it.

"Coming!" They heard Joe yell and heard footsteps approaching rapidly. He opened the door and smiled seeing Rose and his little angel. "Hi daddy!" Joe smiled and picked his daughter up while he let them in. Rose stood there in awe as she looked around the house, it was huge! "Well don't just stand there Rosie! Come here and give me a hug!" Rose heard someone say, she turned and saw Joe's mom standing there with her arms wide open. "Hi Momma Tricia" Rose said as she hugged Joe's Mom, she had missed her so much. She had always been a second mother to Rose; they had always been so close. "How have you been honey?" Patty asked as she pulled away and had a good look at Rose, she looked so different from before. "I'm great Mama Tricia and you?" Patty smiled saying the same; and walked over to greet Aj. She then looked at the little girl Joe was carrying, "And who might this little girl be?" Patty asked as she went to Maia. "I'm Maia" she answered smiling big. "I'm Momma Tricia but you can call me Noni or grandma" Maia nodded and reached for her grandmother which gladly carried her. "Come on let's go meet grandpa Sika" she told her as they walked away hand in hand.

"They seem nice" Aj said to Rose and she nodded in response as they followed Joe to the kitchen. Rose smiled seeing Maia being loved by both her grandparents. It was a very beautiful sight. Aj felt herself getting thirsty so she asked Joe where the drinks were. "Right there in the cooler" she nodded and went to get a drink. She bent down to get a Pineapple fanta but stopped when she saw someone head over to her.

"Hey Aj" she heard someone say, she looked up and dropped her soda when she saw a shirtless Seth Rollins smiling at her. "Uh…hi!" she replied, she quickly got another soda and headed back to where Rose was. She hadn't talked to him ever since the incident with him and Dean. She had done her best to avoid him at work, but she had had no idea he was going to be here… in his swimsuit… shirtless. She shook her head leaving her thoughts and smiled seeing Maia playing with her grandpa.

"Hi sweetie!" both Aj's and Rose's heads turned seeing Tori heading over to Maia. They both quickly made their ways outside and stood next to Maia. Maia gave Tori a small smile and waved, for some reason she didn't feel comfortable around her. Tori tried her best to not look annoyed when Maia just waved at her, she didn't want to upset Joe's parents. "There you are Rose!" Sika said standing up and giving Rose a big tight hug. Rose laughed and hugged him back, "Hi Poppa Sika". Tori looked at them fuming, she knew Joe's parents had always loved Rose and the fact that they still did pissed her the hell off.

She walked away annoyed seeing them sit Rose and Aj down and begin talking to them. "So Rose how have you been? It's been a while" Sika asked while Maia was sitting on his lap eating a cookie. "I've been good, with my little princess and working" Sika nodded and looked at Maia and laughed when she grabbed another cookie. Joe smiled and sat in the middle of his father and Rose. He looked at Rose as she talked and joked with his father, she looked beautiful. He smiled when he saw her laugh; he remembered how much he loved hearing that laugh. Joe looked up feeling someone poke his shoulder and saw his mother smiling at him; "Help me with some stuff in the kitchen honey" Joe nodded and followed his mother.

After they walked in, his mother closed the door and gave him a look. "Joe you need to stop staring at Rose like that" Joe looked at his mom and frowned being thrown off guard. "What?" Patty looked at him and put her hands on her hips, "You heard me Joe, You're with Tori now" Joe nodded and looked down, "Can't say I agree with it though" Patty mumbled and Joe looked up, "What was that mom?" Patty shook her head waving it off and went back outside. Joe sighed and followed his mother.

After a few hours, everybody had arrived and was having a nice time getting to know Maia and catching up with Rose. Joe kept grilling some burgers before heading in the living room, "how about we take this outside to the pool?" he smiled seeing everyone heading outside and taking their clothes off revealing their swimsuits. "Uh Joe?" he looked down and saw Rose smiling at him, "Where can we change?" he led them to one of the guest rooms and smiled when she thanked him, "No problem, see you outside"

Rose changed herself and Maia into their coral colored swimsuits and their pool cover ups. They waited for Aj and once they were all dressed they headed outside to the pool. Rose noticed Aj a little nervous, "You okay hun?" Aj looked up at her and nodded walking shyly with Rose. As she walked, she saw Seth look at her and quickened her pace. "Mommy let's get in!" Maia yelled jumping up and down. Rose smiled, "Okay come on sweetie".

Joe looked over to the pool and saw Rose taking off her cover up, revealing her body in her coral colored bikini. Joe couldn't help but stare, she looked so…sexy. Rose and Maia, hand in hand, ran and jumped in the pool, and laughed when Aj did a cannonball, splashing them water in the process. They began playing around; having "races" with Maia and let her win every time. Patty and Sika cheered for Maia every time she won the races and got in the pool as well. Maia smiled as Sika began to chase her playing Shark. "Daddy help me!" Maia yelled as Sika swam after her around the pool. "Coming princess!" Joe said, he turned off the grill and ran to the pool doing a cannonball as well. Rose laughed as she saw Joe carrying Maia as they both escaped the "shark". Aj looked over and saw the burgers Joe had made, they looked delicious. "I'll be back" Rose nodded but grabbed Aj's foot before she left, "Bring me one too"

Aj smiled nodding and ran over to the table by the grill. She got two plates and picked the best looking burgers. She got some mayo and some chips before picking the plates back up. She turned and almost dropped her plates seeing Seth behind her, "Woah there" he took the plates from her and put them back on the tables. "Thanks" Seth looked back down and smiled at her, "No problem… So…can we talk?" he asked and Aj looked down not knowing what to say. She knew she couldn't keep avoiding him, so she looked up and nodded. He smiled and led her back inside to one of the rooms.

Aj got in nervously and heard Seth close the door. She had his back to him, not wanting him to see her so nervous. She felt him walk up to her and slowly turn her around. "Look Aj, about what happened with Dean, I'm sorry. I get that's why you've been avoiding me lately" Aj looked up looking at him in the eyes and smiled, "its okay Seth no biggie, I'm fine" she replied and headed to the door. Seth grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, she turned red feeling his shirtless body so close to hers. "Uh Seth…" Aj started but felt Seth crash his lips against hers. At first she tried to pull away, but then ended up giving in. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as she moaned into the kiss. She heard him moan in response and felt him put her small body against the nearest wall. He opened his mouth allowing his tongue to move across her lower lip, and in response she opened hers to him and allowed him to enter it. Aj felt the kiss start to intensify; feeling her body melting against his. Her hands roamed around, touching his shoulders, his chest, and his abs. She knew she wanted this badly but not here, not now. She slowly broke the kiss and looked up at him trying to catch her breath; he looked down at her confused. "Seth I honestly didn't want to stop but we can't do this here, and not now. It's Maia's birthday party…" Seth nodded and smiled before giving her one last kiss. They headed to the door when Seth out of nowhere spanked her. Red Heat flushed her cheeks and she started laughing, "Did you just spank me?" Aj asked turning around, "Yes I did, are you gonna do something about it?" he replied with a grin on his face. Aj's smile grew and she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist again, "Maybe for a few more minutes" He laughed and they kissed again, having a little more fun for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, Rose was sitting on one of the steps in the pool watching the sun set while Maia played with her grandparents. She felt Joe's body next to hers and saw him sit, "Having fun?" she nodded and smiled at him "Yes Joe, Thank You for this, all of it" she added. He nodded and slowly grabbed her hand, "You don't have to thank me, I wanted to do this. Look at Maia over there, she's having fun and that's all I wanted" She looked up into his grey eyes, and felt herself get lost in them. The feel of his hand on hers sent electricity all over her body again; she looked down at them and looked back up at Joe. He noticed her uneasiness and pulled his hand away, "Sorry…" she gave him a small smile and nodded, "It's okay"

Amber noticed Rose and Joe getting a little too cozy and nudged Tori. "Hey Tor, look…" Tori looked over to where Amber was pointing and saw Joe and Rose talking and smiling at each other. She smiled and looked at her friend, "Hold this for me please" she gave Amber her soda and walked over to them. "Hey Baby!" she said as she got in the pool, she sat in between Joe's legs and leaned into his body. Rose just laughed and rolled her eyes, Tori was so pathetic! "What are you guys talking about?" she asked Rose with a smirk on her face, Joe looked down at Tori annoyed "About Maia and the party" he answered and Tori sat up. "I see she's having so much fun! I bet you were never able to give her a party like this" Rose looked at Tori and stood up, "Okay, see you later" she said and walked away. She wasn't going to take Tori's bullshit today. Joe looked at Tori and saw her smiling, "Seriously Tori?" he asked and before letting her answer he got out of the pool and went after Rose. Tori began fuming seeing Joe go after her, 'what the hell?!' she thought.

"Rose! Wait up!" he said trying to catch up to her. "Rose!" she rolled her eyes and turned looking at him annoyed, "What Joe?" He looked down at her and got closer, "Look I don't know why Tori said that, but I'm sorry" Rose rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Whatever Joe, You don't need to apologize for what she says. I could care less actually" she said and turned again heading in the house. She instantly felt the cold air inside the house hit her warm body, 'damn you AC' she thought and went to get a soda. Joe saw her body trembling from the cold air; he walked over to her and wrapped his towel around her making sure to keep her warm. "Thanks Joe" she said and started heading back to the guest room to change.

He started following her all the way to the room but saw her stop in front of the door, "Yes Joe?" She asked her back still to him. He got closer to her closing the distance between them. Since Joe didn't answer she turned around and saw Joe's body close only inches apart from hers. He looked into her spruce colored eyes, and started leaning down. She closed her eyes feeling his warm breath close to her lips, her heart aching knowing she couldn't do this. She stepped away and looked up at him, "_Joe… I… can't_" she whispered, Joe nodded and stepped back as well. "I get it, sorry… won't happen again" he said and headed back to the party. She watched him walk away with tears in her eyes; she knew she couldn't let that happen.

Tori looked over at Maia and saw her getting food by herself. She quickly got out of the pool, and walked over to her. "Hey there" she said and saw Maia turn around startled. She gave Tori a small smile and tried to go back to the pool but Tori stopped her. "Listen to me, you and I are going to have a little chat… come on" she said and started walking but saw Maia not moving shaking her head. "I said come on!" Tori said and grabbed a hold of Maia's arm. "I don't wanna!" Maia yelled as Tori pulled her in the house. Maia looked around scared, she felt Tori tighten her grip when she tried to pull her arm away. Maia's eyes started to water "Stop it!" she yelled.

Rose heard her daughter crying and ran as fast as she could to see what was going on; she felt anger fill her entire body and her fists clench seeing Tori hurting her daughter. She ran over to Tori and pulled her to the floor by her hair. She let go of Maia's arm and she ran to her Auntie April seeing her walk out to the living room with Seth. Rose got on top of Tori and was about to punch her when Seth came and picked her up "Don't you ever touch my daughter again Tori! Or I swear I will kill you!" Rose yelled with tears in her eyes. She looked over and saw Maia trembling in Aj's arms, she looked so scared. Rose managed to get out of Seth's grip, only seeing red at the moment, and ran over to Tori again. Joe ran in hearing yelling inside and saw Seth trying to hold Rose back. He looked over to Aj and saw Maia looking away scared. He ran over to Rose and noticed Tori on the floor, "What the hell is going on here?!" He yelled and Rose looked at him angrily, "Your fucking fiancée put her hands on my daughter that's what happened!" Joe's eyes widened and looked at Tori angrily, "Let me go Seth, NOW!" Seth looked at Rose and put her down. Rose quickly walked over to Maia and carried her, grabbing her bags in the process, and walked out of the house with Aj. Joe ran over to the door but before running out, he stopped and looked at Tori "When I come back, you better be fucking gone" he said and went after Rose.

**Woah! This chapter was long, sorry guys. Looks like Tori made the wrong move and got Rose to go Mama Bear mode on her. Joe finally got tired of Tori and gave her the boot. What do you guys think? Let me know and review please! Till next time, bye! **


	13. Believe That

**Hey Guys! I'm back with another chapter, I hope you guys like it. Here's chapter 13, Enjoy**

"Rose!" she could hear someone yell from far away; she kept walking with her daughter in her arms rapidly. The anger that filled her whole body was just too much; if she stopped she felt she was going to go crazy! She was mostly mad at herself. She could still see Maia's frightened face in her head; she blamed herself for all of this. If she had stayed outside with Maia, none of this would have happened. If she would've just stayed outside, that bitch wouldn't have tried to hurt her daughter. She felt someone grab her arm and turn her around, "Rose stop!" she looked up to her best friend's concerned face and handed Maia over to her. She could feel her body start to shake from all the anger she had in her body, the tears were starting to build up.

Aj looked at her friend worriedly; she had never seen Rose like this. "Hey wait up!" as soon as Aj heard that voice, she let out a sigh of relief and felt her whole body relax. Joe ran over to them, Seth not that far behind, and looked at Rose. He saw her whole body shaking, her eyes filled with tears threatening to come out. He knew she didn't want to talk about it, so instead he wrapped his arms around her tightly. At first she struggled, but then relaxed knowing she needed this right now. She needed the all comfort and support to stop her from going crazy. Aj saw them standing there in silence, consoling each other in a tight embrace. Seth looked down at Aj and asked if she was ok, she only nodded giving him a small smile. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, knowing she needed it as well.

After calming both Rose and Aj down, Joe convinced them to come back to his house knowing Tori would be long gone by now. The whole drama had not done Rose any good, she needed to rest. So as soon as they got to the house, Joe lifted Rose up bridal style and carried her to his room. He could tell she wasn't feeling well, so he quickly ran downstairs and asked his mom to make her a tea. "What's wrong with her? Asked Patty looking at her son worried, "I guess the anger was too much for her, she just needs to rest" Patty nodded and headed over to the kitchen to make the tea she knew Rose loved. Once it was ready, Joe kissed his mom's forehead thanking her and ran back upstairs with the tea.

When he opened the door he saw Rose trying to get up and rolled his eyes. "No no no, lay back down" he said as he placed the tea down on the night stand. Rose rolled her eyes "But Joe I'm fine!" she insisted but Joe shook his head "No, lay down" she stuck her tongue out at him and did as she was told. Joe grinned and handed her the cup of tea seeing her close her eyes as she drank some, "Oh god it's still as delicious as I remember" Joe chuckled and was rewarded with an adoring smile from Rose. He decided to stay with her for a little to keep her company, so he sat with her and started watching Modern Family. He couldn't help but smile every time he saw her laugh; it had been a while since he had heard it. He had to admit he had had a few laughs as well, but mostly because of Rose's sudden laughing attacks. Towards the end of the episode, Joe looked down and smiled seeing Rose already asleep. He turned off the TV and slowly got off the bed not wanting to wake her up. He bent down and softly caressed her face, seeing her look so calm and peaceful. He let out a small smile and kissed her forehead before closing the door and going in one of the guestrooms.

Aj tossed and turned trying to sleep knowing she had to wake up early tomorrow, but for some reason she just couldn't. She couldn't stop thinking of what Tori had done; she wished she could've beaten the life out of her for putting her hands on Maia. She groaned and stood up starting to feel frustrated. She quickly put on her robe and knocked on the room next door. She heard soft footsteps and smiled when the door opened. "Can't sleep?" Aj shook her head but giggled when Seth smiled at her and pulled her in. "What's wrong?" he asked as he sat with her on the bed. Aj let out a sigh and looked out the window, "I just can't stop thinking about Maia and what Tori did to her, I feel like I should've done something instead of just standing there" Seth nodded and turned her face so she'd look at him, "I don't think you could've done anything with Rose trying to kill her the whole time" Seth saw Aj start laughing and smack his arm as he grinned, "It's true though, I could barely hold her back. She should try out to be a diva" he added as Aj nodded giggling. "Umm Seth?" Aj managed to say as her laughter started dying down, "Yes?" Aj looked up at him embarrassed hoping for the best, "Do you mind if I stay here?" she asked as her cheeks reddened. He let out a soft chuckle and smiled, "Come on" he said as he lay down and patted the side next to him. Aj giggled as she took off her robe and got in next to him feeling his arms immediately go around her waist. She smiled and leaned closer to him before finally closing her eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Rose was woken up by the smell of some delicious bacon. She sat up and groaned when the sunlight hit her face. Looking over to her phone and seeing it was 7:30 AM, she got up confused and headed downstairs to see who could be up at this time. "Hey! You're up" Rose nodded and smiled at Joe as she sat on one of the high chairs in the kitchen, "Yup, you know the smell of food always wakes me up" Joe chuckled and nodded knowing Rose loved food. "So anyways, why are you awake this early Joe? It's Saturday" Joe finished frying the bacon and turned off the stove burner. "I have a plane to catch at 9:30 AM; the PPV is tomorrow so we have to prepare for it. You know media and those things" Rose nodded and smiled taking one of his bacons, "Thank you" she added as Joe playfully mugged her. "Are Aj and Seth going with you too?" Joe nodded as he ate his some of his breakfast; Rose smiled and stood up to make some coffee. Patty stood there smiling watching the two; they looked like a happy couple. "Good morning" Patty said cheerfully as she walked in the kitchen. She kissed her son's forehead and went over to give Rose a hug, "Morning Mama Tricia, Coffee?" Patty nodded and sat next to her son. A little bit after, they were joined by Seth and Aj who were already dressed and ready to go. They got some coffee and looked at the time, "Come on Roman, we have to leave in an hour" Joe sighed and nodded, He put his plates in the sink before going upstairs.

Once Rose finished washing the dishes, she went upstairs to check on Maia. She smiled seeing her princess still asleep, she carefully closed the door and began heading to the stairs but stopped seeing the door to Joe's room open. She frowned and went to close it but froze when she saw Joe walk out of the restroom with only a towel around his waist. She watched as the water dripped from his hair and trailed its way down his tanned body, she had to admit she envied those drops of water for some reason. She saw Joe look up and caught her staring, a red flush creeping across her face. "I'...m… umm…sorry. I was just…Closing the door" she managed to say as Joe made his way over to her never breaking eye contact. He looked down at her and smirked, "What is it Rose? You need something?" Rose finally managed to look up at him and shook her head, "Like I said I was just closing the door" Joe nodded and smiled, "Well I got to change, so if you'd excuse me" Rose nodded and began heading to the stairs, "_unless you want to help me" _Joe mumbled, his voice barely audible. Rose turned and frowned, "What was that?" Joe chuckled looking down and shook his head, "Nothing" Rose nodded and gave him a small smile before heading back downstairs.

When Joe finished getting ready, he went downstairs with his bags in hand and smiled seeing Maia eating pancakes along with Rose and his parents. He went in the kitchen and kissed his daughter's head, "Hey munchkin, you sleep well?" Maia stood up on her chair and pulled her dad to give him a kiss as well before she nodded and smiled. Joe grinned, but it faded away once he saw Seth and Aj waiting for him by the door, knowing he had to leave. "Well I got to go baby, daddy has to work" Maia looked down but nodded letting her daddy go; Rose looked at Maia and saw her daughter sad that her dad was leaving. "What if we go with you to the airport?" Rose asked and saw Maia's face instantly light up, "Please daddy?" Patty looked over to her son seeing he wasn't all that convinced, "That's a great idea Rose, maybe I'll join you and then after you can take me to the store to buy some things" Patty added and they all looked at Joe waiting for him to answer. Joe looked at his mom knowing she had done it on purpose for Maia and smiled nodding, "Yeah, Okay come on" Maia hopped off her chair and ran to her Auntie Aj jumping on her excited, Aj laughed with Maia in her arms and looked at Seth "Guess you'll have to take my bags Rollins" Seth rolled his eyes and laughed before carrying Aj's bags to the car as well.

Once they got their bags checked in, they all sat down and waited until their flight was called. Maia sat on her dad's lap and played with his hair while he talked to the rest of them. Rose smiled seeing her daughter so close to her dad, knowing they already had a strong Father-daughter bond. As soon as they heard their flight being called, Maia instantly turned and hugged her dad tight. _"I'll see you as soon as I can munchkin don't worry" _Joe whispered as he hugged Maia back. After she was done telling her dad goodbye, she went to say bye to her Auntie April. Meanwhile, Rose looked at Joe and smiled at him not knowing what to do; he smiled back at her before taking her in his arms. He held her close for a moment and then planted a kiss on her forehead, "_See you soon okay?" _Rose nodded and got on her tippy toes, "_Okay" _she whispered in his ear and pulled away smiling. Joe went to his mother and gave her a huge hug as Rose laughed when Aj ran to her and jumped on her wrapping her legs and arms around Rose's waist and neck, "See you soon hun okay?" Rose nodded and hugged Aj, "Okay, now get off me!" Aj heard Rose say and laughed getting off of Rose. After being done with their goodbyes, Rose, Patty and Maia went back to Joe's car and headed to the grocery store.

They walked around the store, Patty getting things she thought Joe needed in his house while Rose got the groceries she needed in the hotel. "Mommy, can I get this?" Rose looked down and saw Maia holding a Roman Reigns action figure. She nodded and smiled seeing Maia put it in the cart, "Rosie, do you think we can go eat somewhere and have a talk?" She looked over to Patty and nodded before heading over to the checkout counter. After they finished paying, they decided to go to the McDonalds next door. They let Maia go play outside so they could talk, "Rose, about what happened with Tori, first off all I'm sorry" Rose frowned and shook her head, "Mama Tricia you don't have to apologize for something Tori did" Patty nodded and held onto one of Rose's hands, "I know sweetie but I wanted to, I also wanted to ask you something about Joe" Patty added and saw Rose slowly nod waiting for her to continue. "Do you still love him?" Rose looked up surprised, she couldn't say the question didn't catch her by surprise. "Of course I do, he's the father of my child Mama Tricia" Patty frowned and shook her head, "No no no sweetie; I meant are you still in love with him?" Rose drank some of her soda and looked down, not knowing what to answer. Was she still in love with Joe? Or had he hurt her so much that it made all her love for him go away? "Um, Well I-" Rose said but was interrupted by her daughter pulling her arm, "Mommy I'm hungry now" Rose let out the breath she had been holding in and smiled giving Maia her chicken nuggets once she sat down. Patty knew Rose still loved her son, but she wanted her to admit it to herself so maybe she could give him another chance. She shook her head and let it go for now. When they finished eating, they went back to the car and headed home.

Patty took Maia and some of the grocery bags inside while Rose started getting the rest. "What the hell are you doing here?" Rose felt anger fill her whole body again hearing Tori's voice, she put the bags back in the car and closed the door. "No Tori, the real question is what the hell are YOU doing here?" Rose said walking over to Tori ready to punch her in the face. Tori scoffed and looked at Rose "You mean why I am at my own house? I actually have the right to be here Rose unlike you!" Rose laughed and went face to face with the bitch that had put her hands on her daughter, "You need to get the hell out of here Tori before I finally beat the hell out of you like I should've yesterday" Tori narrowed her eyes on Rose, "you need to back off Rose, there is no chance in hell I am letting you take all of this from me. JOE IS MINE AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!" Rose looked away for a moment; she had had enough of Tori's bullshit. She looked back to her and slapped Tori as hard as she could, "_Leave._ NOW! Tori went back to Rose's face only to get punched after getting Rose even angrier, "I said NOW!" Rose yelled. Tori stood up, her face as red as a tomato from all the anger, and went back to her car. "FINE ROSE! I'll leave, but this isn't even close to being over. Believe that"

**Well guys, this chapter was pretty good until Tori decided to come back haha. What do you think Tori meant by "This isn't close to being over"? Please let me know and review please! Thank you for reading and thank you to those who have reviewed. I'll try to update very soon, Bye guys! **


	14. Let It All Go

**Hello Hello Guys! I've been busy these last few days, which is why it took me long to update the last chapter. I will try to update sooner starting today, I hope you guys like this chapter. Enjoy.**

Rose went in the house, calmer now that Tori was gone. She had some nerve coming back here and wanting to start more problems. She got her grocery bags and went upstairs to get the pool bag that had her and Maia's bikinis before going downstairs to the kitchen to look for Maia. She had to work later on and needed to meet with Steve, so she called a Taxi to come pick them up and take them back to the hotel. She walked in and smiled seeing Maia helping Patty put up the groceries. "Come on baby, we got to go" Maia looked back at her mother and frowned, "Where are we going mommy?" Patty turned and looked at Rose waiting for her to answer; "Back to the hotel honey, mommy has to work today" Maia looked down and nodded before going with her mom. "But Rose, where is Maia going to stay if you have to work? I mean why don't you leave her with us and you pick her up later? Better yet, why don't you stay here instead of a hotel? I'm sure Joe won't mind" Rose looked up at Patty surprised and looked down at her daughter smiling and nodding. "Uhh, Well I guess she can stay until I'm done with work. But no thank you Mama Tricia, we are fine at the hotel don't worry" Patty nodded and smiled not wanting to insist. A few minutes later, Rose got a call from the Taxi driver saying he was already outside; so she quickly bent down to kiss her daughter goodbye and hugged Patty before getting her bags and heading out.

Once she was already in her hotel room, Rose put the bags on one of the beds and got her phone to call Steve. She heard it ring about three times before he finally answered,

"_Hello?" Steve said_

"_Hey Steve, how are you?" Rose asked._

"_Pretty good, you?" he answered_

"_I'm doing pretty well" she replied smiling_

"_Great! So what's up?" he asked_

"_I got your text about some documents you wanted me to find" Rose answered_

"_Oh yeah right, were you able to find them?" he asked_

"_Yup, already did. I looked over them and I think these will really help the case, wanna come check them out?" she replied_

"_Yeah sure, I just got out of a meeting with the client, so I'll be there in about 20" he answered_

"_Okay see you then" Rose said before handing up. _

Rose started fixing the place up and a few minutes later she heard a knock on the door. She went to open it and smiled seeing Steve smiling back at her. "Hey" Rose said as she hugged Steve and let him in after she pulled away. "Hey Rose, so are these the papers?" he asked as went to the small dining table and sat down on one of the chairs. Rose nodded and sat next to him, "I tried to track the car found on the crime scene. Turns out, the car is registered under the name of the suspect. He bought it two days before the victim was found dead. Not only that, I found out on that same night he planned on leaving the country, but he was arrested before going to the airport." She said smiling. Steve stood up with a big smile on his face and picked her up, "Rose! Thank you, this is definitely going to help the case" he yelled as she laughed, "Don't thank me yet, there's something else!" he put Rose down and looked at her curiously as she went to get some papers from her bed, "I was curious to see what else I could find on him, and I found out that the suspect and the victim did know each other. We didn't find it before because he's been using someone else's name for years now." Steve looked at the documents and smiled, "Did you get his real name?" Rose smiled and nodded, "Here is his record, she filed a restraining order against him 4 years ago. A few weeks after she moved away which made him upset. He wasn't able find her until a few weeks ago" Steve got the documents and hugged Rose again. "Finally this case will be over! Thank you Rose" Rose pulled away smiling and felt some sort of electricity being this close to Steve.

She didn't know why, but she was scared of feeling like this. She hadn't felt this in a while; the only man she had ever felt this with is Joe. "Well I got to take this to the judge so this case will finally be over" Steve said as he headed to the door, Rose nodded and smiled, "Yeah okay, good luck!" Steve smiled and nodded as he opened the door, "Thanks, do you want to grab some dinner later on? You know to celebrate the win?" Rose's smile got bigger as she nodded, "Yeah sure, what time" Steve smiled and looked down to his phone, "about 8 sound good?" he asked, "Perfect" Rose replied. Rose went to close the door after they said their goodbyes; she couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach. She was happy to be going on another date with Steve but it scared her that maybe, just maybe, she was finally over Joe. It was a bittersweet feeling.

After a shower and picking out her outfit, Rose looked in the mirror to see how she looked. She was wearing Zara Contrasting Jacquard Cardigan with a Pearl and Sequin Mini Skirt and her Mint Green Lace-Up Cutout Platform Heels. She smiled and went over to the nightstand to get her phone and called Patty. She heard the phone ring about 3 times before she smiled hearing Patty answer, "Hello?" she heard Patty say. "Mama Tricia it's me, Rose. I was calling to see if you didn't mind if Maia stayed with you a little longer" Rose said as she bit her lip nervously waiting for Patty's answer. Patty smiled and nodded as if Rose could see her, "Of course sweetie, but why? You get stuck with more work?" she asked concerned. Rose smiled and shook her head, "No Mama Tricia, I'm okay. It's just that I got asked out to dinner to celebrate a big case win" Patty listened to Rose with a small smile on her face, she was happy Rose was happy and moving on but she still had hope for her and Joe. "Oh okay honey that's fine. So who's the lucky guy?" Patty asked and Rose laughed, "This friend of mine, his name is Steve" she answered as she got everything she needed in her purse. "Okay, well I'll let you keep getting ready sweetie. Have fun!" Patty said, "Will do, Bye Mama Tricia. I'll see you when I pick up Maia okay?" Patty nodded and smiled, "Okay honey, see you Rose"

As Rose was finishing her makeup, she jumped surprised when she heard a knock on the door. '_shoot' _she mumbled and finished putting on her lip gloss quickly. She took one last look before she stood up and opened the door. She saw Steve in some dark jeans and a navy blue shirt on, she couldn't help but sort of check him out; he definitely looked good. "You look amazing" Rose smiled and felt a warm flush warmed her cheeks as she looked down. "Thank You, you don't look bad yourself Steve" she replied looking back up at him, "Yeah I could tell by your staring, thanks" her eyes widened and she smacked his arm as he chuckled. "Jerk! Are we going or what?" He nodded and waited for her to look the door before heading to his car.

They drove to New Yorker Deli and Pizzeria and went inside to their table. They finished ordering and just talked the whole time. She hadn't even noticed they were holding hands as they talked until the waiter came with their pizza, it was huge! "Oh god, I don't think we're gonna finish this" Steve chuckled and looked at Rose, "Rose, one thing I definitely know about you is that you love food. I'm pretty sure we can finish this" Rose burst out laughing and gave his hand a light squeeze, "You expect too much from me" she managed to say as she laughed. "Anyways, how was little Maia's birthday?" Rose finished chewing and drank some of the wine they had ordered, "Pretty good, she had a lot of fun" she said trying to forget about what had happened with Tori. She didn't want to ruin this date by getting angry all over again. Steve nodded and smiled, "I'm glad, maybe one of these days I can take you both out so I can buy her her present." Rose looked up and gave him an adoring smile, she could tell he cared about her daughter and that meant the world to her; "That'd be great, thank you Steve… I mean it." He shook his head and held her hand again, "No problem, you know I adore little Maia."

Rose was having a great time with Steve; she was actually thinking that maybe this could work. Maybe she was finally over Joe, it was a bittersweet feeling but she was willing to try this with Steve. "Told you we weren't going to finish! I'm full" Rose said and Steve nodded, "Same here let me go and ask the waiter if he can put these in a box. I'll be back" Rose nodded and watched as he walked away, she couldn't stop smiling for some reason. She looked down to her phone when she heard it ring. When she picked it up, she frowned seeing it was an unknown number. "Hello?" she asked, "Hey it's me, Joe" he said and Rose's eyes widened. "Uhh hey Joe, what's up?" she asked wondering how he had gotten her number, maybe Aj? "Well actually I called because I was wondering if you and Maia could come to the pay per view tomorrow. I was going to invite my parents since my uncles and aunts are coming… so can you?" Rose looked over and saw Steve smiling at her as he talked to the waiter. She smiled back not knowing what to answer. She looked down and really thought about this, should she go with Joe? Or should she keep her distance? "Hello? Rose, you still there?" Rose kept her eyes shut and took a deep breath before answering, "Yeah still here… Uhh yeah of course Maia can go." She opened her eyes again but kept looking down, "Great… but Rose what about you?" he asked confused, "I can't go… I have work but she can go with your parents and spend some time with you and Aj" she replied. Joe looked down, for some reason he actually thought she would say yes. "Yeah okay… of course." He replied trying to hide the disappointment in his voice but Rose heard it anyway.

"_Who you talking to?"_ Steve whispered and saw Rose jump, she hadn't seen him come back. "Rose, who's that?" Joe asked hearing a guy's voice in the background, "Umm, I got to go. Talk to you soon okay?" she said and before he could answer, she hung up. "Ready to go?" Steve said and she nodded, she was ready to go back to her baby. "But don't take me back to the hotel; can you take me to this address?" He looked at it and nodded as he drove away.

* * *

Joe was sitting on one of the crates backstage looking down, he was happy he was going to see his daughter but upset Rose wasn't coming. He knew the voice he had heard belonged to the guy Rose had been on a date with a few days ago. The thought of her being on another date got him pissed off, but it mostly upset him. Maybe he has already lost her for good, she was finally moving on. As they walked out of catering, Aj and Seth saw Joe heading back to the locker room looking upset. "Hey, you okay?" Asked Aj as they joined him in the locker room, "Yeah, it's just she said no." Seth looked at his friend concerned and sat next to him, "So her and Maia aren't coming?" he asked and Joe shook his head. "Well Maia is but with my parents. Rose said she has to work." AJ nodded and looked down, she knew Rose all too well to know that was just an excuse. "At least you get to see Maia, that's what counts man" Seth said and Joe nodded. Just the thought of seeing Maia made him smile; he just hoped Rose would maybe change her mind.

* * *

"Can you wait while I get Maia? It'll be a minute" Rose asked and Steve nodded. She quickly got out of the car and knocked on the door. She smiled when Patty opened the door and let her in, "Thank You Mama Tricia, where's Maia?" Patty closed the door and looked back at Rose, "She's already asleep sweetie, why don't you stay? It's already late and you look tired" Rose looked at Patty unsure, but she didn't want to wake up Maia so she nodded. "Okay, give me a minute" Patty nodded and saw Rose go back outside to the car. "Hey, sorry I took so long but Maia is already asleep. I think I'm going to stay here tonight" she said after she got back in the car. Steve smiled and nodded, "Yeah don't wake her up, its fine. I'll see you tomorrow?" Rose smiled and nodded before she leaned in and kissed his cheek. After they said their goodbyes, Rose smiled going back in the house. "Oh god I forgot, what am I going to wear?" she asked. "You can borrow something mine if you want" Rose nodded and followed Patty to the room she and Sika were sleeping in. She got Rose some Pajamas she had in her bag and gave them to her. Rose smiled and thanked her before going upstairs to check on Maia. She saw her baby asleep and went over to give her a kiss on her forehead. She slowly went back and closed the door before going in one of the guest rooms to change. After she was done, she lay down and started thinking as she looked up at the ceiling. All the sleep had gone away as soon as she lay down on the cold empty bed. She tossed and turned but nothing worked, she just wasn't comfortable.

She stood up and for some reason went to Joe's room; Rose smiled when she instantly smelled the scent his cologne still lingering in his room. As soon as she had walked in, she had felt peace and her body relax. Rose walked around the room and saw the pictures of him and Tori were gone. She held onto one of the shirts she had found on his bed that still smelled like him as she saw a picture of Joe in his football uniform back at Georgia Tech. She put it down and kept looking around, seeing Joe had shirts all over the place. She frowned and went to the closet to get some hangers. She got as many as she could and was about to walk out but saw a box with his jerseys in the corner. She put the hangers down and sat down on the floor pulling the box open. She smiled seeing all his Tech Jerseys remembering the good times, but felt her eyes begin to water when she found some old pictures of them together. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she looked through them, they looked so happy. She laughed at the silly ones and even the ones where Joe looked serious while she smiled. He had never been a fan of pictures, ever. She kept looking through them but only one of them caught her attention, it was of the first time she had met Joe's family. She smiled remembering that amazing day.

"_Don't laugh Joe! It isn't funny! What if they hate me?" Rose asked as she freaked out. She couldn't believe Joe was laughing while she was having a crisis. "Babe, calm down! They will love you just like I do" he said as he grabbed her hand while he drove. She looked at him and smiled feeling all her worries go away. "Okay, maybe you're right. I'm just so nervous! This is your family Joe; I want them to like me" Joe nodded understanding her, "I know and they will Rose don't worry" She nodded and looked out the window hoping for the best._

"_We're here" Rose jumped as Joe took her out of her thoughts, she saw him trying to hold back a laugh "Go ahead" she said and heard Joe burst out laughing. "I don't know why you're so nervous Rose, come on" he said a few minutes later and she saw him get out of the car. She took a deep breath before getting out of the car and joining him. He looked down and held her hand giving her a reassuring smile before he knocked. They saw an older woman open the door and instantly smile at them; "Mom" Rose heard Joe say before he leaned in and hugged her. "Hey honey, how are you?" Joe's mom asked, "I'm Fine you know with School, Football and all" She nodded and smiled before turning to Rose and giving her a warm smile as well. "So this must be Rose right?" She asked and Joe nodded smiling at Rose, "I'm Patty it's so nice to finally meet you, He talks about you all the time, I couldn't wait to meet you" she said before pulling Rose in for a hug which she gladly returned. "Nice to meet you too Mrs. Anoa'i" Rose said and saw Patty shake her head, "No no, call me Patty" Rose nodded and smiled as they pulled away "Well come in, the rest of the family is waiting for you both". _

_After Rose was introduced to the whole family, she looked inside and saw Patty in the kitchen cooking. "Joe, I'll be back okay? I'm going to see if I can help your mom with something" she whispered and saw Joe smile and nod before giving her a peck on the lips. She heard his cousins laugh and start yelling, "Go Joe" or "Get you some bro!" which made her cheeks redden as she walked to the kitchen. "Hey Patty, Is there anything I can help you with?" Patty looked over and nodded, "Umm could you put those in the oven and put the temperature on 375 F?" Rose nodded and put them in the oven at the temperature Patty had told her. "What are they? They look so good" Patty smiled and nodded, "They're called Paifala, Samoan Half-Moon Pies" _

_After they were both done with the cooking, they decided to go to the living room and talk instead of outside with Joe and his cousins. "So where is Joe's dad?" Rose asked as she looked around, "He's at the store with their dad" Patty said as she pointed outside to Joe's cousins. Rose nodded and kept looking around at the pictures, she saw some of Joe when he was little with his father or when he was in high school. Patty saw Rose look back outside to Joe and smile seeing him wrestling with his cousins, "When they get together, they are always like this" Patty said laughing as they saw Joe getting teamed up on. They heard the timer go off and both went to finish making dinner. _

_After finishing the buns and the pies, they heard the front door open and men's laughter as they came in. She saw two men walk in the kitchen with grocery bags and smile at the two women in the kitchen, "Hey Tricia" one of them said as he kissed her cheek as the other one waved "Hi honey, look this is Rose. The girl Joe always talks about" Sika smiled and pulled her in an embrace, "Hello, It's great to finally meet you Rose. Call me Sika" Rose happily hugged him back and nodded "Hi Sika, nice to meet you too" Rose replied. After she was introduced to Rikishi, Patty looked at both men "Well did you get the rest of the food? Rose and I finished the buns and the pies" Patty asked and Sika nodded, "All here honey" he replied as the two men went to cook the rest of the food. _

_After they finished eating dinner, Joe and Rose decided to get away for a little and go for a walk. She smiled as they walked hand in hand hearing the waves crashing in the distance. "So, how'd you like my family?" Joe asked looking down at Rose, she looked up at him with the smile still on her face. "I love them Joe, they are so sweet and funny. They were so welcoming and caring, I seriously am so happy right now" she answered as she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. She saw Joe's smile grew when he heard her answer and she __stood on her toes stretching upward to __kiss __his lips. Joe quickly returned the kiss and pulled her body closer. "I love you" he whispered as they pulled away, "I love you too" she whispered back and giggled when Joe pulled her in for another kiss. _

Tears continued to flow as she remembered that day. She looked back down at the picture and saw the smile on her face as Joe hugged her along with Joe's, Patty's and Sika's smiles as well. She thought back to Joe's invitation to the Pay per view tomorrow and looked back down at the picture. Was she ready to give all this up? She put everything back in the box and closed it before going back out to Joe's room. She lay down on Joe's bed and hugged one of the pillows that still smelled like him. She looked out the window, not sure what to do anymore. Should she go to the show tomorrow? Or should she stick to her plan and let it all go?

**That was a long chapter huh? That was for not updating sooner, again sorry guys. So what do you think Rose should do? Should she go or let it all go? Please review and let me know what you think she should do. Thank you for reading and until next time guys… Bye! **


	15. Payback

**Hey Guys, finally updated so here is chapter 15! I can't believe I got this far but it wouldn't have happened without your support so thank you! I hope you Enjoy...**

"We all know you're the weak link" Joe heard someone say.

He tried to ignore it but was woken up by the sudden argument between his Shield brothers, "Take that back two toned!" he heard Dean Yell, Joe rolled his eyes and sat up looking annoyed. "Shut it Ambrose, you know I'm right!" Seth snapped back, "Both of you, shut up!" both men turned and looked at the cranky and sleepy Samoan. "Why the hell are you guys arguing?" Joe asked as he stood up, "Well Sethie boy thinks I can't beat that Big Red Asshole Kane" Dean said while rolling his eyes. Joe looked at both men and chuckled, "Guys Guys calm down. We just need to focus on keeping our titles tonight! Plus, we all know I'm the powerhouse in this stable" he said with a smirk on his face.

Both Seth and Dean turned and looked at Joe with an annoyed look on both their faces, "Someone's got a big head all of a sudden huh?" Joe heard Dean say and sat down on the bed smiling. "Come on Dean, You know it's true" Joe said and chuckled when Dean scowled at him. "Yeah whatever, are you coming to the gym or not? You know Seth? We should've left him" Roman saw Seth nod and rolled his eyes. "Come on guys, we're brothers! We joke around, don't take it so seriously. I know for a fact that we will all still be champions after tonight" Joe said and saw them nod, "Okay fine, but hurry the hell up princess. We don't have all day, we have a pay per view to prepare for"

After the guys hit the gym, they drove back to the hotel to get ready for the show. Joe went and got ready first since he was going to go to the airport first to pick up Maia and his parents. He didn't know if Rose had changed her mind and was coming, but he was hoping she had. He really needed his WHOLE family here tonight, and yes Rose was family. She is more than just part of the family but he was taking it one step at a time. He knew he had hurt her but he was willing to take his time to win her back. He just hoped she was willing to at least let him try, although with her dating that other guy, the chances of her letting him weren't that high. Joe got out of the shower and put a gray shirt on with some jeans and his shoes. He got the keys for his rental and said bye to his brothers before heading to the airport.

Joe paced back and forth as he waited for his parents with Maia and possibly Rose to come out. It had been about 30 minutes and still no sight of them, he was starting to get frustrated. He felt his tense body relax when he heard a small and tremulous voice scream, "Daddy!" He bent down and opened his arms widely for his baby girl who was running straight to him. He felt her instantly wrap her arms around him tightly, "I missed you daddy!" Joe chuckled and pulled back to look at her. "Me too baby" he said and pulled her in for another hug. He saw his mom come out next with a huge smile on her face and then his dad carrying most of the bags. He moved his head a little to see if he could see Rose behind his father but there was no sign of her. Patty looked at her son and looked down, _"She's not coming is she?" _Patty heard her son whisper and shook her head in response. Joe tried to hide the disappointment in his face and smiled at his daughter. "Come on baby; let's go get something to eat before we go to the arena okay?" Maia nodded smiling and put her head on her dad's shoulder as he carried her to the car.

Joe's parents looked at him as he looked out the window at Maia playing in the playing area. "Honey, are you okay?" Patty asked and saw Joe slowly nod; he wasn't really in the mood to talk about this right now. "So son, you ready for your match tonight?" Sika asked trying to change the subject and smiled when he saw Joe look down chuckling. "Of course I am dad, I'm Roman Reigns" Joe said with a smirk on his face and saw his dad chuckle as well. "That's my boy" Sika said as Patty just shook her head smiling. She liked these family moments with her son; she didn't get them often since he was on the road a lot. "Well no matter what happens, you know you'll always be my baby" Patty said and pulled Joe in for a hug as Sika burst out laughing. "Mom!" Joe said and laughed along with his father as Patty rolled her eyes. 'Men these days' she thought and smiled. As soon as they finished their lunch, Patty went to get Maia while Joe and Sika threw away the trash. Once everything was ready, they went to the car and drove to the arena.

* * *

Rose looked out the window at the people walking by as Steve told her about court and how it had gone. Usually she would be listening intently on how the big win went, but today she just didn't want to. Instead she just looked at the strangers walking by and nodded at the parts she needed to. She had woken up to an empty and silent house, knowing they had already left for the event. She had found a note from Patty on the table saying…

"_Hey Rose, Sorry we didn't say goodbye. You looked so peaceful we didn't want to wake you. Maia said she's very sorry and that she loves you very much. If you change your mind, which I hope you do, here is your ticket for the PPV. Please consider it, okay? Love you sweetie, Take care._

_Patty."_

The ticket still sat on the dining table back at Joe's house. She still hadn't made up her mind; she just didn't know what to do. Instead she had accepted Steve's offer for breakfast and here she was. She knew he was trying hard with her and she felt like such a bitch every time she doubted things. She shook and was snapped from her thoughts when she heard her phone ring, she smiled at Steve and told him she'd be right back before going outside to answer it.

"_Hello?" _she heard Aj say.

"_Sweetie, hi!" _Rose answered feeling relieved to hear her best friend's voice.

"_Hi hun! I'm here with our little fire cracker, she wants to say hi" _Rose heard Aj say and laughed hearing Maia saying, "Please give me the phone Auntie"

"_Hello? Mommy are you there?" _Maia said and Rose giggled hearing her baby's voice.

"_Yes sweetie I'm here, how are you? Are you having fun?" _Rose asked wanting to hear her baby's voice as long as she could. She missed her so much already.

"_Yes mommy, its super duper fun! Auntie April and Uncle Seth took me for some ice cream and I also saw Uncle Dean. He is really funny" _Maia said giggling as she told her mommy everything.

"_It sounds so much fun sweetie! I'm glad you are having a lot of fun baby"_ Rose answered feeling her eyes water. She felt like she should be there with her baby enjoying everything too.

"_It is mama. I gotta go! Uncle Dean and Daddy want me to help them get ready!" _Maia said with excitement in her voice. Rose laughed and nodded.

"_Okay sweetie, I love you so so much. Take care okay? I love you" _Rose said trying to stall so Maia wouldn't have to go

"_Love you too Mama, Bye!" _Rose heard Maia say, "_And she's gone" _Aj said laughing

Rose looked down and giggled, _"Yeah she is. Well I'll let you get ready for your big match tonight. It's you and Kaitlyn for the title right?" _

Aj smiled getting all excited for her match, "_Yes! God I hope I finally get my hands on that title! I have a feeling tonight is finally the night."_

"_Okay then sweetie, I'll talk to you later okay?"_ Rose said

"_You sure? I mean I don't have to go…" _Aj asked unsure, not knowing if her friend needed her or not.

"_Yes I'm sure hun, go! Have fun" _Rose finally gave in and they said their goodbyes.

She went back in the restaurant and saw Steve on his phone waiting for her. She sat back down and smiled when he looked up smiling. "You ready to go?" Steve asked and Rose nodded. She wanted to go back home and relax. "So I was thinking, maybe tonight we could go out again. Maybe get out of Pensacola and find something to do" Steve suggested with the smile still on his face as he drove her to the hotel. "Uhh where?" Rose asked and saw Steve shrug. "I don't know wherever you want to go. Think about it" he answered as he parked outside the hotel. "Will do, I'll call you later okay?" Steve nodded and kissed Rose's cheek before she told him goodbye and headed to her room. As soon as she stepped in her room, she went to her bed and lay down. She tried to get some rest knowing she had a tough choice to make.

* * *

"Ahh! Okay Maia, get off me!" Dean yelled as Joe, Seth and Aj were laughing at Maia standing and jumping on Dean's back. Maia giggled and got off of Dean, accidently stepping on his arm in the process, and ran to her dad. Dean stood up and looked at Joe laughing, "If this is your plan to get me off my game for my match tonight, that's low bro." Joe shook his head still laughing as he sat Maia on his lap. "Sorry Dean, that was all her" Joe said and kissed his daughters head as she put it on his shoulder. He smiled as his brothers joked around and had a good time. He was trying to make the best of it and not think about Rose. He understood she didn't want to come, it just hurt that she was moving on. It was like everything that they had been through was slowly fading away.

He held onto his daughter and smiled seeing her laugh as Dean joked with her. Who knew he could be good with kids? It was a complete shock to everybody when they saw a whole other side of him come out when he was with Maia. He was glad she was having a great time with his family and his WWE family. "Well Guys, Maia and I will go and let you guys prepare for the show okay?" Aj said as she stood up. The three of them nodded and Joe smiled seeing Maia turn and give him a hug to say bye, while Aj giggled when Seth pulled her close and hugged her before kissing her cheek. Both girls waved and left the guys to get ready, they knew tonight was a big night for all three of them.

* * *

Rose woke up a few hours later feeling the bright sunlight on her face, remembering she had forgotten to close the blinds when she came back to the hotel. She stood up and started putting up Maia's toys and the clothes that they had left on the bed trying to make the room look neater. She looked at the time, and sighed. She kept going back and forth on her answer not being able to make up her mind. She decided to watch some TV and order some ice cream from room service to distract herself. She laughed as she watched her favorite show Modern Family, remembering the day she had watched it with Joe. Even thought he didn't want to admit it, not only had he liked the show; but he had a couple of laughs as well. She knew she had a past with Joe, a beautiful one. But, was it all left in the past? She also knew she could have a future with Steve and they could make it work. It was worth trying. She thought both options hard before she got her phone and made her decision.

* * *

"YES! HELL YES!" Both Dean and Joe looked at Seth and saw his reaction to Aj finally winning the Divas Title. They saw his face as he looked the screen, seeing his girl holding her newly won divas' title. He was definitely proud of his girl; both men chuckled seeing their brother hurry over to gorilla position to congratulate Aj.

AJ went backstage with the tears still in her eyes; she couldn't believe she had finally beaten Kaitlyn for the Divas Title! She was the freaking Divas champion! Payback was now her favorite pay per view. She heard someone yell out her name and felt them pick her up. She laughed as Seth twirled her around and kissed her, "Congratulations baby, you deserve it" he said with the biggest smile on his face. Aj wrapped her arms and legs around him and gave him a peck on the lips, "_Thank you so much_" she whispered before kissing him once again. "Well sorry to ruin the moment guys, but congrats short one" Dean said with a smirk on his face, Aj playfully mugged him "Thank you Ambrose" she replied with a smile on her face. Joe went over and gave Aj a huge hug to congratulate her before a production assistant came and looked at Dean, "Ambrose, come on your match is next." Dean nodded and he fist pumped his brothers and high fived Aj before leaving for his match.

"Come on Ambrose, Get Up!" Joe yelled as he saw Kane getting ready to choke slam Dean through the Spanish announce table. Seth was pacing back and forth; he was beginning to get frustrated with this match. "Get up!" Joe yelled again. Once Dean got up, he saw Kane get a grip on Dean's throat getting ready to choke slam him, but Dean quickly reversed it and DDT'd Kane. Joe, Seth and Aj watched as Dean quickly made it back to the ring before the count of 10. "Damn right! Fuck YES!" they yelled and high fived each other as they saw the ref raise one of Dean's arms as Justin announced him the winner and still the U.S Champion. "Okay guys! That's two out of three victories for us" Aj said as she clapped her hands and smiled all excited. Joe nodded and looked over at Seth smiling, "Now all we have to do, is beat Orton and Bryan to keep our titles" Seth mentioned, "Which we will, no worry there" Joe said with a smirk on his face.

Dean came back with a smug look and went right to Seth who was already grinning knowing what was coming. "You were saying Seth?" Dean said and laughed when he saw Seth smile and nod, "Okay okay, I was wrong. You won!" Seth said as he joined Dean and laughed as well. They all went back to The Shield's locker room and Dean didn't waste any time to celebrate, he went right to his bag and took out a beer. Joe wasn't about to pretend he wasn't nervous, but he was confident. The whole shield was going to be victorious tonight whether Orton and Bryan liked it or not. They were going to walk out, still the WWE Tag Team Champions; believe that. They saw a man from production come and knock on the door; both Seth and Joe looked at each other. _It's go time._

* * *

_Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta, SHIELD_

The three men walked out and looked at the crowd; they could feel the electricity and excitement throughout the arena. "You can do this, go down there and kick ass" Dean said before fist bumping both of them and heading backstage again. The tag team champions walked to the ring with full confidence, they were The Shield after all. Joe went it the ring and looked at the crowd again finding it hard to stay in character when he saw his daughter. He grinned seeing her cheering as loud as she could but his smile definitely grew when he saw who was carrying Maia. He saw Rose with a huge smile on her face, cheering as well. Both of his girls were wearing their Shield shirts proudly while cheering for both Seth and Joe. He smiled seeing her blush when they finally made eye contact. He felt his confidence increase now that she was here, now he knew he was definitely walking out of here champion.

Both Rose and Maia got up when they saw Bryan get the no lock locked in on Seth. "Don't tap!" Maia yelled as loud from the top of her lungs as Rose yelled "Come on SETH!" They both felt let out a sigh of relief when Joe slid back in the ring and broke the submission. Rose laughed seeing Maia yell "UUUUAHHH!" along with her father as he got ready to spear Daniel. Randy ran in and tried to RKO Joe but he pushed him away and speared Daniel before Randy tried again and RKO'd Joe. Seth quickly got up and pushed Randy out of the ring before curb stomping Bryan and pinning him. "1, 2, 3! Yay! Mama they won!" Maia yelled as Justin announced them "Still WWE Tag Team Champions". Rose jumped up and clapped while yelling "YES! WOO! GO SHIELD!" She felt Patty give her hand a squeeze as they both cheered for Joe. Both Shield men raised their titles up high, making it clear they weren't going to give them up so easily. She saw Joe smile at her before heading backstage. She looked down and smiled feeling she had made the right decision.

While the John Cena vs. Ryback was going on, Rose checked her phone while Maia was intently watching the match. John Cena was also one of her favorites, she loved watching him. "Baby, let's take a picture with Mama Tricia and Papa Sika" Rose said with a smile on her face and they all got together smiling at the camera. Rose could definitely say this was one of her favorite pictures, they all looked so happy. Rose smiled when she saw Maia jump up and down once Cena won. "Mommy he won!" she exclaimed happily, "I see sweetie!" Rose replied smiling. Maia kept celebrating but started yelling when she saw John coming over as he took some pictures with the fans and slapped their hands in the process. "Mommy he's coming here!" Maia said and Rose quickly picked her up so she could get a better view. She excitedly waved at Cena and he waved back with a big smile on his face. "Can I take a picture with you?" Maia asked with so much hope in her eyes. John smiled at her, showing his cute dimples, and nodded, "Of course sweetheart" Rose let John carry Maia for a little and took the picture; she could swear Maia was blushing. "Thank you" Rose said as she took Maia back, "No problem" he said and gave her a wink before going to greet other fans.

They all made their way backstage with the security man Joe had sent to get them. She got some curious glares from fans as she made her way to the back with Joe's family. She didn't mind, but she hoped this wouldn't start hate like she had seen happen to other wrestler's families. She shook her head and tried to forget about all that for now. Once backstage, Maia grabbed her mom's hand and ran in search of her father. She had memorized the way to The Shield's locker room, just in case she got lost, so she quickly made her way there. "Daddy!" Maia yelled as she let go of her mom's hand and ran to her dad. Rose laughed as she saw Maia jump on Joe in the process and wrap her tiny arms around his neck, "You won!" she added. Joe nodded and chuckled seeing his daughter's excitement. "Sweetie!" Rose felt her eyes widen when she saw Aj running full speed at her with her arms wide open. She laughed and hugged her best friend tight, "Congrats Diva's Champ" Rose said in between laughs as she heard Aj squeal.

"Ahh! Thank you! I still can't believe it!" Aj said as she got off of Rose with a huge smile on her face. "Well believe it honey! You deserve it" Rose said and pulled Aj in for another hug, she was so proud of her. "Don't I get a congratulations hug?" Rose pulled back from the hug and laughed looking over to Joe. "I'm just saying; if she gets one…shouldn't I?" he said with a smirk on his face. "Ugh, fine. Come here Joseph" she said with her arms wide open as she rolled her eyes playfully. He chuckled and wrapped his big arms around her smile body pulling her close. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist; she had needed this… badly. _"I'm glad you came"_ he whispered. She got up to her tippy toes and whispered in his ear, "_Me too". _

"Hey! If Aj got a hug and Roman asked for one, I guess I'm getting one as well?" Dean said with a smirk on his face. Joe rolled his eyes and pulled away from the hug. "You're funny Ambrose" Joe said and saw Dean chuckle. "Hilarious" he replied with the smirk still on his face. Patty came in the room with Sika and they both went to congratulate their son. "Sorry we were late, we stayed talking to your cousins for a little" Patty said and Joe nodded. "Mommy I'm hungry" Maia said out of nowhere with a frown on her face. Everybody looked down at the adorable 6 year old and laughed, "Okay Sweetie, come on" Rose said and got Maia's tiny hand. "We'll be at catering if you need us" she added and headed to the door but was stopped by Joe's hand grabbing her arm. "I'll come with" Rose nodded and headed over to catering with Maia and Joe.

"Did you enjoy the match?" Joe asked as he walked side by side with Rose. "Yeah I did, I enjoyed watching Seth win the match" she said with a smirk on her face. Joe chuckled and playfully bumped into her as she laughed. "I really did, you did great" she added and looked up at him with a smile. "Thanks" he said as he smiled at her and looked back down. He didn't know what this meant for them, so he wasn't going to push his luck. As soon as they got to catering, Rose saw Maia head over to the sweets and shook her head. "No no no, you had enough sweets today sweetie" Maia frowned and looked up at her mother with her adorable pleading eyes. "Please Mama?" Maia asked and Rose hit Joe when she heard him chuckle, "Fine but just one cookie, no more. I mean it Maia" Rose said and Maia nodded knowing her mom meant it. Rose got a sandwich and a water bottle before sitting down with Maia. Her eyes widened seeing Joe's plate when he sat down, she saw that he got 6 slices of Pizza and a soda. '6 slices? This guy eats a lot' she thought and shook her head. "How can you even eat that much after a match?" Joe shrugged and at one of his slices. He laughed when Maia shook her head and held her tummy, "Too much daddy" she said and Rose laughed as well. When Rose finished with her food and saw that Maia was finished with hers, she picked up the trash and went to throw it away.

When she turned and started heading back to the table, she saw one of the divas go and sit in her spot. She tried to remain calm and stood there watching. "Hey Sasha, what are you doing here?" She heard Joe ask the diva, "Aren't you supposed to be in NXT?" he added. "Yeah, I decided to come with other NXT divas and check out the Pay per view." She said with a smile on her face. "Nice! Did you enjoy the match?" Joe asked and drank some soda. "Yup, I did. I enjoyed your match the most though" Rose heard her say and scoffed. _'That was smooth'_, she thought and rolled her eyes. "Thank You, we tried. Although it wasn't much competition" he said with a smirk on his face. _'Yeah Right, says the one that got RKO'd_' Rose thought and went over to the table. "Sorry for interrupting guys, We'll be heading out now" Rose said as Maia nodded and held her mom's hand. "Why? Aren't you coming with us to celebrate later on?" Joe asked with a confused look on his face. "Yeah but I'd rather wait in Aj's locker room" she said and before Joe could answer, she turned and walked away with her daughter.

She didn't know why she was so upset, she wasn't with Joe. He could do anything he wanted and flirt with anyone if he wanted to. Maybe she was over reacting, or maybe that was a slap back to reality. She couldn't think everything was okay and forgotten. Yes she was okay with Joe and she did love him, but maybe what they needed for now was to see other people. What Joe just did proved her point; they weren't ready to go back into that. Maybe they shouldn't rush into things, seeing Joe flirt with that girl right in front of her brought back some bad memories. She knew she hadn't fully forgiven him but at some point she had been close to. This had just made it harder for her. She wanted him to be happy in the end, and if seeing other people for now was what he wanted, he could have it.

"Rose!" she heard Joe yell, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning and looking at him with a fake smile on her face. "Yeah?" she asked trying to make the fake smile as real as possible. "Why'd you leave like that?" he asked with a concerned look on his face. "Oh I just wanted to leave you alone with your lady friend. She's pretty" she said trying to hold the tears back. She knew she needed to make it believable so she winked at him and smirked. "Sasha? Oh it's no-" he said but Rose shook her head, she knew Joe was a natural flirt. She wasn't going to change who he was, they weren't together "Joe, go back and keep flirting with her. It looks like she likes you" she added. Joe couldn't believe Rose was saying this, was she telling him to move on? "Go... Have Fun" she said. Joe looked at her confused and looked down; he couldn't believe this was happening. He looked up at her and saw her give him a reassuring smile. He slowly nodded and gave her a small smile before slowly heading back to catering.

It hurt her to see Joe walk away; she was basically pushing him into the arms of someone else. If they're really meant to be together, they'll find their way back to each other later on. For now, they would only be friends.

**Well, that was the longest chapter so far lol. I hope I'm doing a good job at keeping you guys entertained. So, do you think Rose maybe over reacted? Or do you think her idea for them to have some time apart is a good idea? Please let me know what you think and review guys! I love it when you guys review and tell me what you think. It helps me a lot. Thank you for reading and until next time… Bye! **


	16. Night at the club, Giving in?

**Hey Guys! I'm back with another chapter! So here is chapter 16 of Escaped, Enjoy! **

"See mamma, I told you I would win" Maia said with an adorable evil smile, Rose giggled and nodded being proved wrong by her six year old daughter. She had decided to go back to Aj's locker room, knowing it would be empty, and sit Maia on her lap as they played Fun Run. Maia probably beat her about 5 times but Rose thought of it as she was letting her win to console herself. She shook her head and grinned as Maia played with other people with a serious and determined look on her face. She was one smart and adorable kid.

"There you are!" Rose looked up and saw Aj walk in with a worried look on her face, "Here we are!" Rose answered with a smile on her face. "Where were you? You had me looking all over the arena for you scared to death! I thought you were going to catering with Roman" she asked as she sat down next to them. "Sorry hun, well I was with him and then I came here" Rose answered and shrugged. Aj looked at Rose confused, "But why? Did something happen?" she asked. Rose shook her head and kept watching Maia play knowing Aj was still looking at her. "You sure Rose? You're not acting like nothing happened…" Aj added and saw Rose nod and smile at her. "Okay then, come on. The guys are waiting for us and Patty is waiting with Sika to take Maia back to the hotel so we can go out to celebrate" Aj said as Rose groaned and closed her eyes. The only reason why she was going to agree to go was Aj finally winning the title. That was it. "Fine… Come on sweetie, let's go with grandma and grandpa" Rose said and Maia smiled and nodded.

They went outside to the parking lot and found Patty and Sika waiting by their car. Once they got there Rose bent down and looked at her daughter "Okay Sweetie, behave for mommy and listen to Mama Tricia and Papa Sika okay? Be a good girl" She said and smiled when Maia nodded. "Okay, Love you sweetie. Give mommy a hug and a kiss, come here" Rose added before she hugged and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Bye Mommy" Maia said before getting in the car. Rose waived and hugged Patty and Sika, "Goodnight, love you both". They both hugged her back smiled, "We love you too sweetie, goodnight" Rose smiled and waved as they drove away.

She made her way to The Shield's locker room with Aj and was surprised to see Joe already there. She thought he would have still been with that diva Sasha or whatever her name was, or she instead would've been here with him. "Okay guys, we're ready!" Aj said as they walked in, Rose looked at her and shook her head. "Uh, do you have a shirt I can borrow? I'm not about to go out wearing a Shield shirt" Rose said and laughed when Aj giggled and nodded. "Actually I don't, but I'm sure one of the girls that are coming do. Come on" she said and pulled Rose to the divas' locker room. "Uhh let's see…"Aj said as she scanned the room, "Nikki!" Aj yelled and Rose saw a brunette girl turn around. "Yeah?" she asked, "Do you have a shirt my friend can borrow?" Aj asked and Nikki nodded looking through her bag. Meanwhile the other brunette came and smiled at Rose, "Hi, I'm Brie" she said. "Hi I'm Rose" Rose replied and smiled back. "Uhh I don't have a shirt, but I have a dress" Nikki said pulling one out of her bag. Aj looked up at Rose, "That's fine, thank you so much" Rose said and Nikki shook her head. "No problem, I can already tell you'll look hot!" she said smirking.

Rose looked down blushing and quickly made her way to the restroom to change. Slipping into the Sexy Cut-Out Patchwork Mesh Front Backless Bodycon Dress, she surveyed herself in the mirror. She had to admit…Nicole was right, she looked hot! The dress she wore fit Rose like a second skin, it outlined every curve, dip and nook of her body. She smiled and did a few turns before walking back out to show the girls. She laughed seeing them start whistling and clapping, "Told you, you look so hot girl!" Nikki said with a smirk on her face. Aj and Brie nodded, "I agree with my sister, that dress was meant to be worn by you" Brie added and Rose felt herself blush again. "Thank You guys! Seriously…" Rose said and went to hug Nikki; Nikki laughed and hugged her back, "You're so welcome" she replied. "And the good thing is that it goes with your shoes!" Aj said and the twins agreed. "Well come on, now that we're already let's go! The guys are going to kill us!" Aj added, they all nodded in agreement and headed to the Shield's locker room.

"Okay, Now we're ready" Aj said as they walked in. The Usos let out a sigh of relief and stood up, "Finally! You girls ta-"Jimmy said but stopped seeing Rose walk in. "Rose?" he asked and smiled seeing it was definitely her. "Girl come here and give us a hug!" Jey said with his arms wide open. Rose laughed and went to hug them both "Hi guys" she added and pulled away still giggling a little. "How you been girl?" Jimmy asked, "I've been good, and you guys?" she asked. "Pretty good, actually I'd like you to meet someone" Jimmy answered and smiled pulling the girl behind him up and wrapping his arms around her. "This is Trin, my fiancée" he added with the dorkiest smile on his face. Rose's eyes widened and had the biggest smile on her face, "Congrats! Oh my god, nice to meet you. I'm Rose" she said as she pulled them both in for a hug.

Joe finished washing his hands and walked out of the restroom. His eyes widened as he walked out and saw Rose with that dress on, his gaze traced the curves of her body absently. She looked amazing, so… sexy. He tried to make it look like he wasn't staring but it was hard when he couldn't even stop looking at her. "Uhh Roman?" Seth said as he waved a hand in front of Joe's face, he quickly looked up at Seth and saw him smirk. "Ready to go? Or are you just going to stand there and stare at her all night?" Joe gave him a death glare before getting the keys to the rental, "Who's coming with us in our car?" he asked. "Uh, definitely Aj and I think Rose" Seth answered and smirked when he said Rose. Joe rolled his eyes and gave Seth the keys, "Here funny boy, you drive" Seth's smiled completely faded away and looked at Joe, seeing him chuckle. "Fuck you man…" he said and smiled seeing Joe laugh, "Okay guys, come on lets go" Everybody made sure they had all their things before heading out for an eventful night.

* * *

Rose tried to look out the window as she sat in the middle of Joe and Aj. She tried to distract herself feeling Joe so close to her. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes and checked him out, he looked insanely hot. The intoxicating smell of his cologne made her close her eyes for a moment, as his scent overtook her. Rose shook her head and opened her eyes again trying to focus on everything else but him. She smiled seeing Seth park and practically pushed Aj out of the car, Aj looked at her confused but smirked seeing Rose stand as far away from Joe as she could.

Once they were all in, the girls decided to head over to the bar and order the drinks as the guys went to their VIP section. They finished ordering as Rose looked around; she hadn't been to a club in six years! To be more detailed, she hadn't gone out in six years unless it was for work. All she could think about at the moment was if Maia was asleep already, or if she was okay. As if Aj could read her mind, she turned to Rose and put her hand on top of Rose's. "Relax hun! Have fun, let loose!" she said grinning. Rose looked at her hesitantly but nodded knowing she deserved a fun night for once. "Fine" she said and looked over to the bartender, "Give me two tequila shots please" the other girls looked at her and cheered, "Go Rose!"

Rose laughed and downed both of her tequila shots; she had to admit she felt more relaxed. "Oh this is my favorite song! Someone dance with me!" Nikki yelled and smiled seeing her sister and Eva Marie stand up to join her. Meanwhile, Rose went to sit down with Aj and Trinity. She looked around and saw Joe looking straight at her, she saw him lick his lips before turning back to Seth who was talking to him. Trin looked at both of them and smirked, "Is there still something going on between you two?" she asked. Rose's eyes widened and she shook her head, "No… we decided that we weren't ready for that. Seeing other people is better for both of us" Rose answered. Aj put her drink down and looked at her best friend annoyed, "Yeah right Rose, you both decided that or you did? Look I'm going to be completely honest with you. Okay hun?" Rose nodded knowing Aj meant it when she said she was going to be honest.

"Okay, first of all I know there is something still there. You know why? Because you changed your mind and came here instead of staying with Steve. Why did you come if you didn't want to fix things?" Aj asked and Rose just looked at her not knowing what to answer. "Exactly! You know I'm right! So why are you still pushing him away Rose? We both know you don't want to"

Rose looked down knowing Aj was right, she had been pushing Joe away. "I don't know Aj! I just don't know!" she said trying to change the subject but knew Aj wasn't done.

"Rose… we both know that's not true. When Tori was in the picture, you said it yourself; you thought you had lost him because she had him. Now he's single and you're pushing him away. What excuse do you have now?" Aj asked knowing this conversation was long overdue.

Rose looked away feeling her eyes starting to water, she let out a small smile when she felt Trinity hold her hand to comfort her. "I'm scared AJ! Okay? I AM SCARED! I thought Joe and I were going to be together forever and nothing could break us apart but I was proven wrong when I saw him sleeping with my BEST FRIEND AJ! What makes me think that he won't do it again with someone else? I don't want to get hurt again; he hurt me so much last time" She said as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "I can't only think about myself now, I have a daughter now. If Joe and I tried to be together again and it didn't work out, it would hurt Maia as well not only me!" she added.

Aj saw her friend let it all out and smiled, "You'll never know unless you try Rose. He cares about you, we can all see it!" she said and Rose looked up seeing Trin nod agreeing with Aj.

* * *

Joe looked over to Rose and frowned seeing her wiping her face. He tried to get a better look and saw her smile a tear stained smile to both Aj and Trin. "JOE! Dude! Are you even listening to me?" Seth asked looking at Joe annoyed. "Honestly, no" Joe answered with a smirk on his face. Seth rolled his eyes and went to talk to Dean instead.

"Hey Cuz" Jimmy and Jey said in unison.

"Hey" Joe said and some more of his beer.

"So what's up with you and Rose?" Jey asked as he watched Joe looking over to Rose talking to Aj and Trin.

"I don't even know man, it's like one second she wants this as much as I do; but then she doesn't" he said looking back at his cousins.

"Well we hope you didn't think this was going to be a walk in the park cuz" Jimmy chuckled.

Joe shook his head and chuckled as well, "knowing Rose, of course I didn't. I'd wait as long as I have to but I at least want to know if she wants this too" Jimmy and Jey nodded knowing he had a point.

"Well Cuz don't just stand here drinking, go and find out! Look" Jey said and pointed over to the girls.

He looked back to Rose and smiled seeing Nikki trying to drag her to the dance floor. He remembered back in Tech when they used to go to clubs, Rose would always beg him to dance with her. He saw her finally give in and smirked as he put his drink down.

* * *

Rose smiled as Nikki pulled her to the dance floor with the other girls. Both hers and Nikki's hips moved in synch with the music finally letting loose. She kept moving her body to the beat but smirked feeling someone grab her hips. "Sorry, you're gonna have to buy me a dr-" she started but stopped when she turned and saw Joe looking down at her smirking. "Buy you a drink? I'm good with that" he said still smirking. "Uhh…" Rose tried to find something to say but was met with Aj's and Trin's death glares, "_Keep Going! Dance!" _they both mouthed.

Rose closed her eyes and sighed before opening them again and looking up at Joe, "I guess the drink can wait" she said and smirked seeing Joe smile. His hands remained on her hips, pulling her closer, as her body still moved to the music. She felt her body heat rising as her and Joe's bodies got closer and closer, she hadn't felt him this close in a while. She tried to look down or at his jaw the whole time until her eyes finally made their way to his. She wrapped her arms around Joe's neck pulling him even closer still moving her body to the beat. "_Rose…" _ Joe whispered noticing she had looked back down. Rose looked up to his lips and bit her own as her heartbeat increased, feeling his hot breath on her. Their faces were only inches away from each other as they locked eyes; he seeked for permission in her eyes not knowing if they should give in to the craving of each other's lips. Joe slowly began to caress her cheek and inched his face closer to hers, his mouth only inches away from hers, Rose let out a sigh and closed her eyes feeling herself give in.

**Hey Guys! Sorry I haven't updated but I have been VERY busy. What did you think of this chapter? What did you think about the ending? Haha let me know and please review! Let me know what you would like have happen in the story.** ** Your reviews really help me out, until next time guys! Bye…**


	17. Feeling A Moment

**Hey Guys! So I know I left you with a cliffhanger, I didn't want to leave you suffering and wondering lol. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, it means a lot! Hope you enjoy…**

_Joe slowly began to caress her cheek and inched his face closer to hers, his mouth only inches away from hers, Rose let out a sigh and closed her eyes feeling herself give in._

"Hey Man! Get the fuck away from her!" Both Rose and Joe heard Dean yell to some random guy. Joe shut his eyes and sighed, annoyed that he was so close to kissing Rose but some guy had to ruin it.

Rose opened her eyes widely and turned to see what was going on. She saw Dean put Brie behind him as some drunk guy went face to face with him, "Or else what man? You gonna hit me?" The guy said. Dean smirked, "Don't tempt me" he simply replied. Joe let go of Rose and looked down at her, "I'm gonna go and try to calm Dean down okay? We don't need him spending a night in jail again" Joe said with a small smile on his face. Rose nodded and let Joe go, watching him head over to Dean.

"Hey Man, Chill Out. He's not worth it" Joe said as he got in the middle of Dean and the other guy. Meanwhile, Rose slowly made her way to Brie to pull her away from the chaos. She quickly got her by the arm and started heading to the table, "Hey Bitch, Let my girl go!" The guy yelled heading over to Rose and Brie angrily. Joe quickly started seeing red at the moment and next thing he knew, he was punching the guy multiple times in the face. "Joe Stop!" he heard Rose yell. "JOE!" Rose yelled. He felt himself being pulled away by his cousins as other guys went to check on the drunken man.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Jey asked as they sat Joe down.

Joe looked up at them as he felt himself calm down, "He insulted Rose and was going to hurt both her and Brie. What? You thought I was just going to let that happen?" he asked

"No, but I thought you had gone to make things better not worse! Now Ambrose wants to get his hands on him too" Jimmy chuckled. Joe looked down shaking his head and chuckled at the thought of guys having to hold Dean back right now. His best friend was definitely a lunatic.

"But we get it man, you did the right thing" Jey added patting Joe on the back. "By the way, we saw you and Rose getting real cozy before all this shit happened" Jey said smirking at his cousin.

"Yeah, that's what pissed me off the most man! I was so close! You know how hard it is to get through to her? She's stubborn man" he said and chuckled seeing his cousins laughing.

"Well she's looking for you, so go and start over uce" Jimmy said and started laughing again.

Joe rolled his eyes and went to look for Rose, hoping they could keep going from where they left off.

* * *

"I'm calm Rollins! Fuck man, get off my case" Dean exclaimed as he finally got Seth to let him go.

Brie assured Rose that she was feeling better before going over to Dean and sat down next to him. Dean looked up surprised to see her there but still shot her one of his signature smirks.

"Hey Dean, I just wanted to thank you for what you did" Brie said and gave him a warm smile.

"Nah, it's fine doll. That prick needed to get his ass beat anyways; sadly Roman beat me to it" he replied and smiled seeing Brie giggle at his response

"Either way, you protected me and defended me. Thank You Dean" she said looking up at him and felt herself falling for him steel blue eyes.

He smirked at her and pulled her to sit closer to him, "I said it's fine doll" he repeated. Brie felt her cheeks redden as he called her doll again. His deep voice and his bad boy attitude had her feelings all over the place for some reason. She usually didn't fall for these types of guys, but she guessed she could make an exception.

Nikki sat with the girls as she watched her sister getting all close and cozy with Dean Ambrose. She never thought she would see her sister with a guy like him, that was kind of something Nikki would do. She was actually happy for her, but she just hoped Dean was actually into Brie as well. She sighed and went to get another drink since she had been dancing the whole time and had finished her first a while ago.

"Hey, can I get a vodka tonic please?" she asked and smiled seeing the bartender nod and began to prepare it.

"Here you go ma'am" the bartended said handing the drink to Nikki. She smiled and started getting her wallet to pay for it but saw a guy stop her and smile at her.

"It's on me, here you go" Punk said as he gave the bartender some cash and smiled down at Nikki.

"Thanks Punk" she said as she took a sip of her drink. She had been friends with Punk for a while, they always hung out at the arena and even ate together sometimes "What are you doing here?"

"Geez can't I go out and have fun Nics?" he asked chuckling and ordered a soda before sitting next to her.

Nikki playfully raised her hands and laughed, "Yes you can sir" she managed to say as she laughed.

"So, what about you? What are you doing here?" he asked sipping some of his soda in the process.

"You know I won't turn down a night at the club" she said and Punk nodded. He knew after ending it with John, she just wanted to enjoy life and have fun.

"Well do you mind if I keep you company?" he asked and chuckled as she playfully slapped his arm.

"Hell No, stay as long as you want" she said giggling.

"I plan to" he replied and smiled seeing her blush a little.

* * *

"How's our beautiful new Divas Champ?" Seth said as he wrapped his arms around Aj's tiny waist.

"I'm doing pretty good" she said as she smiled looking up at him. "Kind of wishing I was playing video games instead of at the club" she added.

"You know what? Same here, but we're here to celebrate your win. I'm proud of you, you know…" he said as he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"Thank You Seth, but what about your win tonight? You and Roman retained the titles. I'm very proud of you too, especially since you got the pin" she said as she smirked and wrapped her arms around Seth's neck

"Thank You babe" he said as he gave her a light kiss on the lips.

Aj hoped that he couldn't see her cheeks redden when she heard him call her babe. They hadn't really made things official yet; she kinda wanted to know what they were, but she didn't want to scare him away.

"You okay Aj?" he asked looking at her with concern.

She nodded and smiled, she didn't want to ruin this moment. "I'm great!" she replied and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before waiving and joining the girls at their table again.

Seth watched her skip away confused, had he done something wrong? She didn't look mad, so maybe it wasn't bad. He shrugged and went back to the guy's table trying to understand what had just happened.

* * *

"Hey…" Joe said once he found Rose. He saw her quickly turn around and instantly wrap her arms around him.

"There you are! I thought something bad had happened to you" she said as she pulled away.

"Nah, I'm good. I doubt that guy could cause any harm after the punches I threw at him." He said as he smirked at her.

"Still Joe, he was drunk! Who knows what he could have done?" she replied with worry still in her eyes.

Joe shook his head and grabbed her by the shoulders, "I'm Fine Rose, see? Not even a scratch" he said and saw her laugh when he did a little turn.

"I see that, thank you for the modeling Joseph" she said in between giggles.

Joe playfully stuck out his tongue at her and chuckled, "Ha ha, funny" he said and rolled his eyes as she started cracking up again. He had missed this fun and silly side of her, but he hadn't missed her calling him Joseph to bother him. He hadn't missed it AT ALL.

"Okay sorry… Leati" she said and burst out laughing seeing Joe roll his eyes again chuckling a little. "Okay sorry, now I'm done" she said as her laughter died down.

"Good, now where were we?" he said as he leaned in slowly. He was about to finally feel her lips against his until she put her hand in front of her face.

"No no no, you sir, owe me a drink" she said as she poked his chest and tried to hold her laughter in when she saw the disappointed look on Joe's face.

"Right… the drink" he mumbled and headed over to the bar with her. She quietly giggled, hearing the annoyed tone in his voice.

She smiled at the bartender when he handed her the drink she had ordered. "Thank you" she told him and turned to Joe. "And thank you Joe" she said and took a sip of her drink.

"Welcome baby girl" he replied with a smirk on his face. She felt her heart race a little faster when they locked eyes again. After a few years, Joe was still the only man who could make her heart flutter like this and make her feel this way. She knew Aj was right about pushing him away, but she had the right to be scared and cautious for her heart. She still loved Joe with all her heart, that was never going away, but she didn't fully trust him. She needed to know if this really could happen unlike last time, he had hurt her badly before. She needed to know what had happened that night; she needed to hear it from _him_.

"What are you thinking about Rose?" Joe asked looking at her with a concerned look.

Rose put the best fake smile she could put on her face and shook her head, "Nothing" she simply replied and took another sip of her drink.

Joe sighed and looked away to the dance floor. He knew Rose had put her walls up again; it was going to be hard to bring them back down. Was she not going to let him all the way in ever again?

"_**Yo te miro y se me corta la respiración… Cuando tú me miras se me sube el corazón." **_

Rose's head shot up as she heard this song playing at the club. No, Rose wasn't Hispanic, but she had some Hispanic friends back at Tech that had taken her out to clubs. Plus she had a passion for dancing all types of music. As soon as she had learned how to dance this type of music, she had fallen in love with it. It was just so groovy and fun to dance! Her head quickly turned to Joe and let out a smirk that made him sigh and roll his eyes.

"Rose, this song is in freaking Spanish!" he exclaimed as she dragged him to the dance floor.

"So? Dance with me! It's all about the hips Joe, come on." She said as she moved her body closer to his.

Joe couldn't help getting turned on at the sight of Rose dancing this song. Her hips and her feet moved perfectly to beat as she danced with a huge smile on her face. He couldn't help but chuckle when she grabbed his hands entwining them with hers and spun herself around giggling. _"You're crazy you know that" _he whispered in her ear.

She smirked and got on her tiptoes, "_I've been told" _she whispered back.

Joe grinned as the other girls joined Rose on the dance floor. He was relieved because he honestly looked like a dumbass just standing there not knowing what to do. He hadn't seen Rose this happy in a while, she was finally letting loose and having fun. It made him realize that he was willing to do anything to get that amazing woman back. He would wait if he had to, no matter how long, but he loved her to much to let her slip away. Not again…

* * *

"Ugh…" Rose mumbled as she opened her eyes to the morning sun hitting her face. She pulled the covers over her face to try and get more sleep but her eyes widened feeling a muscular tattooed arm tighten their grip around her body. '_What the fuck?' _she thought starting to panic. She looked down and recognized Joe's tribal tattoo, '_Oh my god! What the hell happened last night?!' _She quickly turned around and saw a peaceful Joe still asleep. She couldn't help but smile at first but she then realized she was only wearing one of his shirts and smacked him on his chest to wake him up.

"JOE!" she yelled as she smacked him on his chest again. "JOE Wake up!"

'_What the hell?'_ He thought as he opened his eyes and looked at her confused, "What's wrong?"

"What the hell happened last night?!" she said as she got up starting to panic. "Did we have sex last night? Did I sleep with you? Oh god! How much did I drink? My head is killing me!" she babbled.

"ROSE! Calm down!" Joe said as he got up. "We didn't have sex last night okay? WE ONLY SLEPT ON THE SAME BED. You got very wasted so I brought you back to my hotel room to make sure you were safe" he added with a small smile as he held onto both of her shoulders.

"Oh okay…" she softly said as she sat back down on the bed.

Joe looked at her and frowned as she put her face in her hands and sighed. He went to get his travel bag, found some Aspirin for her and then got her a bottle of water from the fridge before sitting down next to her.

"Here, take this" He softly said.

Rose looked at him and gave him a warm smile before taking the Aspirin and putting the water back in the fridge. "Thanks Joe…"

"No problem baby girl" he replied and pulled her back down next to him. "You really let loose last night by the way" he chuckled

"Ugh, my head is killing me. I don't even want to know the crazy things I did" she mumbled as she reached for a pillow and covered her face with it.

"No… you don't" he smirked looking over to her.

"Oh god…" she groaned against the pillow. She couldn't help but grin when she realized this was Joe's pillow. It smelled just like him.

Joe chuckled and wrapped an arm around her waist, "I'm just playing Rose, don't freak out! Nothing bad happened. I promise" he assured her.

She looked up and nodded smiling, "Well I'm going to take a shower, if you don't mind" she said getting up.

Joe shook his head and smiled, "Not at all, I was actually wondering if maybe you and Maia wanted to spend the day with me. You know… before RAW?" he asked

Rose smiled and looked back at him, "Of course Joe, that'd be great" she answered.

Joe's smile widened hearing her response, "Great!"

Rose quickly made her way to the restroom and made sure to lock it before taking Joe's shirt off. She closed her eyes and sighed as the warm water hit her body. She stood there and placed a hand on the wall as she let the water run down all over her body to relax under the hot water. Once she finished showering, she put on the dress she had on last night and put her long brown hair up into a bun. She made sure to look presentable before walking out into the bedroom.

"All done, I'm going to go to my room to change into something else and also get Maia ready okay?" she said as she walked over to Joe.

Joe looked up at her and licked his lips as he nodded. He still couldn't get over on how beautiful she looked in that dress.

Rose smiled and got all her things before saying goodbye to Joe and heading to Sika and Patty's room to pick up Maia. She was thankful they were all staying in the same hotel. She made her way to the 4th floor and looked around for their room.

"Hey, you lost?" she heard someone ask

Rose turned and smiled at the muscular man, "No I got it, thank you…Mr. Cena right?" She asked.

He smiled and shook his head, "Nah, call me John. I think I saw you at the show last night right? With the little girl?" he answered

She nodded and smiled, "Yeah my daughter Maia is a big fan. I'm actually on my way to get her right now" she said.

"Ah okay, I'll get out of your way then" he said as he shot her one of his charming smiles.

Rose giggled and shook her head, "I'm sorry, it's no bother but I'm kind of in a hurry" she added.

John nodded, "Okay then, that's fine. I'll see you around… I'm sorry what's your name?" he asked

"Rose, and yeah see you…" she replied and waved before finding Patty and Sika's room and knocking.

She smiled when she saw Patty open it and let her in. Patty smiled and pulled Rose into a hug, "Did you have fun last night sweetie?" she asked with a warm smile on her face.

"Yeah… too much fun Mama Tricia" she answered and giggled seeing Patty laugh. "Where's my baby?" Rose asked.

Patty smiled and walked with Rose over to the bed Maia was sleeping in. Rose couldn't help but smile seeing her sleeping beauty. She sat down and kissed her daughter's forehead as she caressed her cheek, "Hi baby…" she said softly as Maia faintly opened her eyes.

"Hi Mama" she said in between yawns

Rose grinned and kept caressing her cheek, "How's my sweet girl?"

"Very good Mama" Maia said as she got up and sat on her mother's lap

"Awesome baby" she said as she playfully pinched her daughter's cheek and grinned when she saw her giggle. "Were you a good girl for Mama Tricia and Papa Sika?" she asked looking at Maia

Maia nodded and smiled looking over to her grandparents seeing them nod also.

"Very good Sweetie, Now come on. We have to get you ready for breakfast with daddy" Rose added

Maia's eyes widened and so did her smile, excited to spend some time with her dad "Okay Mama, come on!" she said as she pulled her mom to the door.

"Do you guys wanna come?" she asked looking over to Patty and Sika.

They both smiled and shook their heads, "No thank you honey, we already ate breakfast" Patty answered.

Rose nodded smiling and waved before being pulled out by her excited little fire cracker. She loved seeing her daughter like this, always full of life. They made their way to the 7th floor which was also the floor Joe was in and went into their hotel room.

"Okay baby, what do you want to wear?" Rose asked as she opened Maia's bag.

Maia got up on the bed and looked at the clothes her mom was showing her, "Can I wear the blue dress with pink mamma?" Maia asked

Rose picked up the Navy blue with Pink Jersey print dress and looked at Maia, "This one honey?" Maia looked at the dress and nodded smiling at her mom.

"Okay, now let's get you all showered" Rose said, she tickled Maia's belly and picked her up laughing as she heard Maia giggle.

After she was done getting Maia showered and dressed, she put Maia's hair into Pigtail braids and gave her the sandals she wanted to wear. "Okay baby here, now mommy is going to get ready okay?" she said smiling and poked Maia's nose playfully when she nodded.

She looked through her bag and picked her Mint Green Cut out Back Dress, her Banana Republic Mckenna Leather Thong Sandals, and her Ceselie's Silver Seashell, Starfish & Pearl Charm Bracelet with her purse. She started putting on some light make up, since she didn't put make up on that often, and put on her favorite peach colored lip gloss.

Once she was done, she sat down on the bed and sat Maia on her lap as they watched Maia's favorite movie while they waited for Joe. She got her phone to check the time and frowned seeing it had been more than half an hour but then again… maybe that's why his hair ends up so beautiful. '_Man takes his time…' _she thought as she kissed the back of Maia's head and kept watching Lilo and Stitch with her.

Joe finished straightening out the room and got ready to leave before hearing a knock on the door. He frowned knowing he had agreed with Rose to go get them from their hotel room but shrugged and went to open the door. Joe instantly frowned seeing who it was at the door and was about to close it but was stopped when they put their foot in the way.

"Hey Joe… we need to talk" Tori said.

**Okay Guys...Sorry for the wait. I've been so busy lately but Uh-oh... Tori's back… What did you think of this chapter? Let me know and please review. Your reviews really help me out and inspire me. Let me know what you would like to happen in the story and I'll try to make it work… until next time. Bye Guys!**

_**Thank you for everything, you guys are awesome :) **_


	18. Let Me Show You

"Mama I'm hungry! Where's daddy?" Maia looked up to her mother with a frown on her face. Rose checked her phone and saw an hour had already passed. "I know baby, daddy will be here soon" Rose said as she stood up. She made sure Maia's attention was on the TV before locking the door of the restroom and calling Joe. This spending the day together thing was Joe's idea so she just hoped there was a valuable explanation for this. She was beginning to worry…

* * *

"Hey Joe, we need to talk…" Tori said trying to stop Joe from shutting the door on her face.

"There's nothing to talk about Tori!" he replied looking frustrated

"The hell there isn't Joe, let me in!" she said raising her voice. Joe looked around and saw some of the superstars turn their attention to them. Joe rolled his eyes and pulled her in, now he was pissed off.

"What the hell do you want Tori?" he glared at her with anger in his eyes.

"I want you Joe! WE ARE MEANT TO BE TOGETHER!" she yelled

Joe scoffed and looked away shaking his head, "The hell we are Tori, that's bullshit"

Tori was taken aback by the tone of his voice but knew she had to keep going, "Baby, you know it's true." She said as she stepped closer to him. "Since Rose got back you were waiting for me to mess up! But now I'm here to apologize… she's your kid and I love her with all of my heart! Baby I need you" she said taking a few more steps forward

"Tori, stop…" Joe took a few steps back still glaring at Tori; he knew this was all bullshit. She didn't mean a word she was saying. "Why don't you just leave? You're wasting your time. The woman I'm in love with is waiting in her room for me with our kid. That's where I'm supposed to be right now, not here with you" he added.

"You don't mean that baby" she said as she took a few more steps closer, closing the distance between them. "You may love her, but you're also still in love with me" she said softly

Joe shook his head, "Tori, just get the hell out" he said as he headed to the door. Tori felt her blood start boiling, as anger filled her whole body. He usually never resisted like this, but she was not giving up so easily. She grabbed Joe's hand and pulled him back against her body, reminding him of how nights with her had been like. She was sure that Joe and Rose hadn't slept together, which meant this guy was about to lose it.

"I don't want to leave baby" she whispered as she leaned in closer. "I want to stay here with you…"

Joe rolled his eyes and pulled his hand away stepping away from her, "Don't you get it Tori? I don't want YOU! I DON'T LOVE YOU, I NEVER DID AND I NEVER WILL!" he yelled as he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the door.

Tori felt tears filled her eyes, but they weren't for sadness or hurt. Hell no, she was angry, pissed off, embarrassed! Who the hell did he think he was? She jerked her arm away and turned to him, "Who the hell do you think you are Joe? Huh?" Tori glared at him for a moment before giving Joe the hardest slap she could give, putting all her strength in it. She knew that would set him off, she smirked waiting for him to explode.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he yelled as he turned back to look at her. His anger increased when he saw her standing there, smirking at him. "What the hell are you smirking at?" he added.

"Oh nothing, you've gone soft baby" she said trying to hold back a laugh. "I mean, if I would've known you had turned into such a wuss; I wouldn't have come back for you" she added as she got closer to him. "I don't even want to imagine how bad in bed you must be now" she whispered as she looked up into his intense grey eyes, knowing that would do the trick.

He looked down at her, trying to stop himself from giving her what she wanted. She knew questioning him ticked him off, especially when you haven't had sex in weeks. He thought of Rose and Maia, trying to find strength to resist.

"Come on baby… Just give in…" she whispered.

* * *

Rose looked over to Maia and saw her fall asleep while she waited for her dad. Rose looked out the window as she began to worry, had something happened to Joe? She quickly got her phone and texted Aj if she could come over to her room. She sat down, waiting for Aj's reply, but smiled when she heard a knock on the door. She went and opened the door, hugging Aj before letting her in.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Aj asked looking at Rose's concerned face.

"Joe was supposed to meet us for breakfast over an hour ago, he's still not here…" she explained as she sat on the bed with Aj

Aj looked over to a sleeping Maia and looked back at Rose, "You want me to stay with her while you look for Joe?" she asked

Rose nodded and looked at Maia, "I want to make sure he's okay, he never takes this long"

Aj nodded and pulled Rose in for a hug, "I'm sure he's okay… I'll stay with her don't worry" she said as she pulled away.

Rose smiled and thanked her before kissing Maia's forehead and heading out to look for Joe. She headed over to the elevator and pressed the button to Joe's floor. It felt like the elevator was taking forever to get there, she was getting more nervous by the second. She smiled when she finally got there and saw Jimmy and Jey close by.

"Hey guys! Have you seen Joe around? He was supposed to meet me and Maia for breakfast" she asked.

"Nah we haven't, he's probably still getting ready. Cuz wants to impress his girl" Jimmy said as he nudged her arm.

Rose rolled her eyes as she looked down and giggled, "I doubt it boys, I think he's st-" She felt as if her body shut down at the sight of Tori walking out of Joe's room. Rose felt like she couldn't even breathe, how could she have been so stupid and naive? How could she let this happen again?

Jimmy and Jey saw Rose's face completely change and turned to see what was going on. Their eyes widened as they saw Tori step in the room again, and shutting the door. "Rose, its no-" Jimmy said but stopped when he saw Rose step in the elevator.

Rose felt like she wanted to break down and cry but for some reason her body was not letting her. She stood in the elevator, emotionless. She slid down to the floor and sat there, looking at the wall in a blank stare. Many thoughts crossed her mind, "_How could you be so stupid? He never loved you! He never did or will" _Rose thought. She heard the elevator doors open but couldn't find the strength to stand up. She felt so weak; she felt like trash, she felt so _worthless. _

"Hey… you okay?" she heard someone say. She couldn't even speak, what she had seen had brought back so many painful memories. She just sat there still looking at the wall, feeling nothing whatsoever. _"Rose?" _she heard someone say from a distance. Her vision started to blur as she looked around, feeling someone start helping her to her feet. She tried to hang on to the person as tight as she could, but felt her legs give out before everything went black.

* * *

Jimmy angrily pounded on the door, waiting for Joe to finally open it. "JOE! Open the fucking door!" he yelled as he pounded harder. He felt himself get angrier when Joe opened with his hand wrapped around Tori's arm, "What the fuck JOE?!"

Joe's eyes widened and quickly shook his head, "Nah nah nah, I've been trying to get her to leave! It's nothing like that!" he explained but knew his cousins weren't buying it.

"It didn't look like nothing to us OR ROSE!" Jey added looking at Joe in disbelief.

Joe's eyes widened as he felt his world fall apart, "No no, tell me you're kidding"

Both Usos shook their heads and looked at their cousin, "Wish we could cuz, but she saw the whole thing" Jimmy said. "Yeah, you hurt her again Joe… just like last time" Jey added as he looked at Tori with disgust in his eyes.

Joe looked down and closed his eyes; he could imagine how much he had hurt her. The worst of it all was that nothing had happened, he had tried to get Tori to leave but she always found a way in. It wasn't like he was going to hit her or hurt her in any way; he wasn't that type of guy.

"You fucked up big time cuz" Jimmy said before they both walked away. Rose was a close friend of theirs, like a sister. They had understood Joe the first time, but two times? That was some fucked up shit! Jey turned and looked back at Tori, "If my cousin is telling the truth and he really was trying to get you out of here; then get the fuck out before I call security" he said.

Tori's face got red from all the anger she was holding in, and walked away pushing Jey in the process. The twins just shook their heads and chuckled looking down, "Crazy bitches these days man" Jey said. They looked back up and saw Joe step in the elevator before it closed. They knew he was going after Rose, but it might just be too late.

* * *

Rose's eyes opened to the sight of an unknown room. She looked around, trying to figure out whose room she was in.

"Hey, you're awake" she heard a familiar voice say. She looked up and let out a small smile when she saw Seth standing there with a concerned look on his face.

"Hi… what am I doing here?" she asked as she put her face in her hands. Her head was killing her, she felt like hurting someone at the moment.

"I'm fainted in the elevator, gladly you fell into my arms or you would be in a lot of pain" he said as he sat down in front of her. "What happened Rose?" he asked.

Rose shook her head and stood up, "Nothing, thank you Seth… I really mean it" she said as she headed to the door.

Seth shook his head and pulled her back, pulling her in for a hug. "You're not fine Rose, what happened?" he asked again as he pulled away.

She looked down as her eyes began to water, finally her body was letting her feel all the pain she had felt in that moment; all that hurt. Tears streamed down her face, feeling her heart break all over again. She hugged Seth again, crying her eyes out in his arms. She tried to stop but felt more tears come down instead. Seth tightened the hug, feeling like she needed the comfort at the moment. _"Why Seth?" _she said in between cries. She needed to know why! Why did Joe do this to her again.

"Why what doll?" he said as he pulled away. He looked at her concerned and wiped her tears way, "Tell me what happened…"

"Jo…J...Joe" she said as more tears streamed down her face at the mention of his name.

"What about Joe?" he asked, as he handed her a cup of water.

"He… H… He was with Tor… Tori" she said as she tried to get her breathing back to normal. She put the glass back on the nightstand and pulled a pillow to her face as she sobbed against it.

Seth looked down and rubbed her back as he tried to console her, what the fuck was Joe thinking? "What do you mean he was with her?" he asked.

She looked back up and took a deep breath, "She was with him in his hotel room, I saw her walking out but then she looked like she was… I don't know giggling I guess? And then she went back in and locked the door" she explained. Her heart had shattered when she had seen them together, causing her more pain than she had ever felt in her whole life.

"I bet there's an explanation Rose, I know Joe. He's not that much of an ass, maybe Dean is but not Joe" he said and smiled seeing Rose giggle.

"I don't know Seth… I just don't know" she said as she stood up. "Thank you Seth, for everything but I have to go back to my baby girl" she said as she pulled him in for a hug; "You're a great friend" she added as she pulled away.

"I'm here if you need me darling, whenever you want to talk or anything" he said and gave her a warm smile.

She nodded and smiled before going to the elevator. She took a long breath before going in and pressing the button to her floor. She felt a lot better after the talk with Seth; he was an amazing friend and a great person to talk to. She walked out of the elevator and stopped right on her tracks when she saw Joe sitting right outside her door waiting for her. She knew she could go back in the elevator and try to avoid him but there was no other way to get to her room so there was only one option.

She looked down and walked over to her door not wanting to look at him. "Rose…" she heard him say as he stood up. "Please talk to me…" he added softly. She shook her head as she looked for her keys. "_Fuck!" _she thought as she realized she had left them in Seth's room. "Ugh!" she groaned as she headed back to the elevator.

"Rose!" he called as he tried to catch up to her. "Rose please, let me explain…" he pleaded as he stepped in the elevator with her. Rose stood as far away as she could from him and tried to ignore him, she didn't want to hear what he had to say. She was scared it would bring more pain than she was already feeling. "Rose… It wasn't what it looked like" he explained. Rose turned away and decided to take the stairs instead; she pressed the button for the next floor and waited.

Joe slid his hand down his face feeling frustrated and pushed the stop button. Rose's eyes shot up at him surprised, _'did he really just do that?'_ she thought. "You need to listen to me Rose" Joe pleaded.

She shook her head as she tried to restart the elevator, "I don't need to do anything Joe" she shot back as she tried moving him to press the button but he wasn't budging. "You should've at least kept your dick in your pants until you were done having breakfast with your daughter who's been waiting for you for hours! Now Move…" she said without looking at him, "Not until you listen to me" he answered.

Rose sighed and moved to the other side of the elevator, "What?" she asked as she looked down.

"It wasn't what it looked like Rose! I've tried hard to get you back, so why in the world would I even consider doing that to you again?" he asked as he stepped closer to her.

Rose bit her lip, trying to stop the sob that was threatening to come out. She couldn't even speak; she knew that if she did, she would start crying all over again. "Rose, please talk to me…" he said softly as he took another step towards her. Rose kept looking down and squeezed her eyes shut, as a tear fell from her eye. She didn't want Joe to see her cry again, she just couldn't.

"I love you Rose, that's gotta mean something right? You've got to believe me…" he said looking down at her as he felt tears gathering in his eyes, he didn't want to lose her. "Please Rose…" he pleaded. Rose kept looking down, not knowing what to say. She could try to believe him and forgive him, or she could go around and press the button to get the hell out of here. The silence was killing Joe; he needed her to say she believed him or to say something instead of this dreadful silence.

Rose finally looked up into his tear filled grey eyes. She couldn't tell whether it was the fear of losing her that was making him upset or the fact that he got caught and was sorry. Either way, she could tell he was hurting just like she was. "_Please…" _she heard him say as his voice cracked.

"_It only means something if you actually feel it and show it" _she whispered, her voice cracking as well. Joe looked down at her confused, not knowing what she meant. "What?" he asked.

She looked back to him, crying softly as her lips trembled when she spoke; "You've told me you love me millions of times Joe, but for once how about you show it?" she sobbed. "You told me you loved me back at Georgia Tech, but then you cheated on me with my BEST FRIEND! Now you tell me you love me, that you want me back and I find you with her again. I don't need to know if you love me, I know you do Joe. What I need to know is if you are IN LOVE WITH ME!" she said, the tears flowing faster now.

Joe shut his eyes and looked down as Rose's words hurt him over and over again. He hated seeing her like this; he hated hurting her like this. He could hear her still sobbing as she looked at him expectantly but it was his turn to be left speechless. Rose saw as Joe just stood there not even looking at her, she felt worthless right now. She had just poured her heart out to this man and he wasn't saying anything.

Rose turned and pressed the button to restart the elevator, wanting to get out of here as fast as she could. "It's okay… just don't say anything" she said softly as she waited to get to her floor. She sighed and looked back at him once the elevator doors opened with hope in her eyes. She saw him still in the same position and sighed before heading over to Seth's room.

"I need you"

Rose stopped right on her tracks trying to let it all process. She quickly turned and looked back at Joe as he walked out of the elevator, looking straight at her.

"I need you Rose. I'm crazy about you; I'm IN LOVE with you. Please give me the chance to show you"

**Woah guys! That was one heck of a chapter right? So what did you think about this chapter? Did you like it? What do you think Rose should answer after Joe's confession? Let me know and review please! Like I always say, your reviews definitely help! :)**


	19. Reality Check

"_I need you Rose. I'm crazy about you; I'm IN LOVE with you. Please give me the chance to show you" _

Rose stood frozen as she heard those words coming out of Joe's mouth, there were so many things she wanted to do in that moment. She wanted to jump on him, she wanted to hug him and feel those huge muscular arms around her small body. She didn't know how to react. This beautiful man was telling her he was crazy about her, that he was in love with her.

Joe stood there, watching her after he finally got that off his chest. It felt good for Rose to know that he was really in love with her; he wanted her no matter how long it took. He began to worry, seeing that Rose hadn't moved or said anything. There were two options on what could happen, 1. He would get slapped and cussed out, or 2. She would let him show her just how much he loved her and Maia. He just hoped the second option would be the one.

"_Okay" _Rose softly said as a smile formed on her lips. She wanted to go back to how they were before, happy. She wanted the three of them to be a family again, but it wouldn't be that easy. She was going to try and fix this thing with Joe, but with that came fixing her trusting issues. She needed to start trusting people again; she needed to trust JOE again.

Joe couldn't stop the huge smile that formed on his lips after her answer. He wanted to kiss her, he wanted to hold her, he wanted to make love to her and make her his all over again. But he knew he was a long way from all of that, right now he needed to focus on getting his girls back.

"Well come on, we have a little girl who is waiting for us to go eat breakfast" Rose said, snapping him away from his thoughts. He nodded and was heading to the elevator but was stopped by Rose's sweet voice calling his name. "Yeah?" he asked.

"My keys are in Seth's room, wait here. I'll be right back" she said as she gave him a quick smile and quickly went to Seth's room.

"Hey hon', come in" he said as he moved out of the way and let her in. "You feeling better?" he added.

"Much better actually, thank you Seth. The talk we had really helped a lot" she said as she looked around for her keys. She smiled once she turned back to Seth and saw him waving the keys with a grin on her face.

"Looking for these?" he asked and chuckled when Rose nodded as she laughed. He tossed them to her and smiled when she caught them. "Nice catch, where are you going sweetheart?" he asked as he dropped back down on his bed.

"Breakfast with Maia… and Joe" she said with a smile on her face.

"So you guys talked then?" he said as he sat up with a smile on his face as well.

"Yes but-" she said but was interrupted by an impatient Samoan that was waiting for her.

"Rose! Did you find them?" she heard Joe yell.

Seth shook his head and chuckled, knowing his friend was everything but patient, "She's talking to me big man!" he yelled back.

Rose looked down and laughed listening to Joe, "Okay I gotta go, I don't want him waking anyone on this floor up" she quickly said and hugged Seth before going back to the elevator. "I'm here Joseph, let's go"

Joe rolled his eyes, hearing her call him Joseph, and pressed the button to Rose's hotel room floor.

Rose carefully opened the door, to find Aj asleep next to Maia. She smiled and stepped aside to let Joe in before carefully shutting the door.

"_Aj"_ Rose whispered as she knelt down next to the bed. "_Aj, honey" _she whispered again, and smiled seeing her stir before she opened her eyes.

"_What took you so long? Is everything okay?" _she whispered as she sat up.

"_Yes everything's fine hun, thank you for watching her" _Rose softly said as she stood up.

Aj nodded and looked over to Joe who was sitting next to Maia. He smiled as his hand gently caressed Maia's face, his daughter was beautiful. He looked back over to Rose who was smiling at the beautiful sight.

"_Wake her up" _she whispered with a grin on her face.

"_You sure?" _he asked and smiled seeing Rose nod. He looked back to Maia and smiled, "Hey munchkin, daddy's here" he softly said as he kept caressing her face. He saw her stir before turning her back to him, still asleep. He chuckled and looked back to Rose seeing both her and Aj trying to hold in their laughter.

"Maia, honey wake up" he tried again.

Maia smiled hearing her father's voice and opened her eyes as a smile formed on her face. "Daddy!" she yelled and jumped on him to give him a hug. "What took you so long daddy, I'm hungry" Maia complained.

"Daddy's sorry munchkin, I tried to get ready as fast as I could" he answered, "Do you forgive daddy?" he added.

Maia smiled and kissed her father's nose before nodding, "Yes daddy, but let's go! I'm starving" she said and jumped off the bed before running to the door.

"Hey hey little lady hold on" Rose said as she knelt down in front of Maia. "Don't forget your shoes sweetie" she said in between giggles.

"Oops, Thank you mama, come on!" she said as she opened the door and pulled Rose to the elevator. Rose laughed and looked back to Joe, "Hurry up Joe! Or else we're leaving you" she joked and saw Joe smirk.

He ran over to them and picked Maia up and put her on his shoulders. He was more than happy to finally spend some time with his girls, they needed it. They needed to spend time as **a family**.

* * *

Rose's eyes widened as she scanned the menu, everything looked so good. They decided to go to the Café Aromas which was close to the hotel they would be staying in tonight after the show.

"Mama, everything looks so good" Maia mumbled as she scanned the menu as well. Rose shook her head and laughed at her silly angel, "Well what do you want sweetie?" she asked.

"I don't know mama… WAIT! I want that!" she said and pointed to a picture. Rose nodded and smiled before leaning down and kissing Maia's forehead.

"What my munchkin wants, she gets" Joe said as he looked down and smiled at Maia. Rose saw Maia smile and clap excitedly; she smiled before looking up to Joe and saw him already looking at her. She smiled and turned away quickly when she felt her cheeks heat up. She heard him chuckle and heard Maia start giggling as she played with her father.

"Sorry for making you wait, my name is Ashley. I'll be your waitress today, are you ready to order?" she asked and smiled seeing them all nod.

"Okay, I would like a southwest omelet with Bacon, scrambled eggs and home fries on the side" Joe ordered and smiled as he looked back up.

"Okay sir, and to drink?" she asked as she finished writing Joe's order.

"Uhh" Joe mumbled as he looked at the menu. '_Didn't they have normal coffee? What the hell is an espresso, latte, or mocha?' _he thought_. _"Don't you have just normal regular coffee?" he asked confused and Rose couldn't help but laugh.

The waitress tried to hide the grin on her face and nodded, "yes we do sir" she answered.

"Okay, I'll have that" he answered and gave her his menu.

"Okay what about you ma'am?" she asked as she turned to Rose.

Rose smiled and looked up at her; "I'll have a Belgian Waffle with Strawberry Crepes and a William's white espresso" she ordered and gave the waitress her menu.

Ashley, the waitress, nodded and looked at Maia, "And you sweetie?" she asked.

"Umm, I want a… mommy what's that?" Maia asked with a confused look on her face.

Rose giggled and pinched her baby girl's cheek, "she wants a sausage, egg and cheese croissant and hot chocolate" she ordered.

The waitress nodded and smiled, "coming right up" she added before walking away.

* * *

"Momma, where are we going now?" Maia asked as Rose put her in her car seat.

Rose got in the car and looked back at Maia through the rear view mirror and gave her a warm smile, "I don't know sweetie, maybe back to the hotel. Daddy has to work" she responded and looked over to Joe.

Joe thought about it for a moment and looked at Maia; "How about we go to the zoo munchkin?" he offered and smiled seeing Maia's face light up.

"Yes daddy! I want to go to the zoo!" Maia exclaimed excitedly.

Rose just shook her head and smiled, she knew Joe loved spoiling Maia. She was his little princess; Rose loved how close they had become in such short time.

Once they got there, Rose took Maia out of her car seat and carried her while Joe locked the car. He instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist and walked with them to the main entrance to buy their tickets.

"Mama look!" Maia yelled as she pointed at the lions.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Rose said and smiled as she walked with Maia hand in hand.

"Can you see okay munchkin?" Joe asked seeing Maia standing on her tip toes struggling to see.

"No daddy, everyone is so tall!" she said as she pouted.

"Come here" Joe said as he picked her up and put her up on his shoulders. Rose laughed hearing Maia squeal, and giggle as Joe picked her up.

"Better?" Joe asked

"Yes daddy!" Maia said in between giggles.

Rose had to admit, this day had turned out better than she thought. She loved being able to finally spend time as a family. She felt her heart flutter at the sight of Joe and Maia laughing and having fun. It's all she ever wanted.

The more they walked, the more Rose realized all the people staring at them with cameras and their phones in hand. She began feeling uncomfortable because she could hear people talking about her and Maia. She heard things like, "Who's that girl with Roman?" or "Who's the kid he's carrying?" the last thing she wanted was to be in the middle of the spotlight. She knew it came with Joe's job, but she reached her limit when she started hearing negative things about her. She wasn't going to risk staying and hearing things about Maia. Hell no.

"Joe, can we go back to the hotel?" She whispered.

Joe looked down at Rose confused and saw the uncomfortable look on her face as she looked at the crowd of people around them.

"Yeah okay, let's go" he said and led them to the exit.

Rose looked out the window the whole way back to the hotel. She had always been the girl who liked her privacy, but now all of that was going to change. She just prayed and hoped none of this would affect Maia, because her daughter will always come before anything else. She would not let anyone try to hurt her baby, believe that.

**Hey guys! It's horrible that I haven't updated in more than 2 weeks, I know! I've just been so busy with school. Hope you like this chapter and I will also try to update sometime this week again. Thank you for all the support. **


	20. Along For The Ride

**Hey guys! So I'm back with another chapter **** I hope you enjoy chapter 20!**

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me right now?" Joe asked Rose.

Rose nodded and gave him a reassuring smile, "Yes Joe, I'm sure. I'll go to the arena with your parents later on" she replied

He nodded and smiled, "Okay, I heard Summer is also coming tonight" he added with a grin on his face.

Rose's eyes widened and a huge smile spread on her face, "Really? I haven't seen her in years!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Joe couldn't help but smile brighter seeing Rose's excitement to see his sister again. They had always been close until the whole thing with Tori happened. He was lucky to have Rose; she got along with his whole family and fit in perfectly. There was no doubt that he was never letting her go again.

"Okay okay, you gotta go Joe" Rose said as she playfully pushed him to the door.

Joe chuckled and playfully raised his hands, "Can't I say bye to my baby girl first?" he asked with a grin on his face.

Rose stuck her tongue out at him and looked back, "Maia, baby come say bye to daddy" she said.

Maia jumped out of bed and ran to Joe at full speed. Joe smiled as he lifted her up and kissed her forehead, "Bye Munchkin, see you later okay?" he asked and smiled seeing her nod.

"Bye daddy" Maia said and smiled as she kissed her dad's nose.

Joe put her down and chuckled seeing her run back to the hotel room bed. "Bye Rose" he said and leaned in to kiss her cheek.

"Bye Joe" she said as she tried to hide the huge smile forming on her face. Joe smirked before waving goodbye and heading to the arena.

* * *

Rose was playing with Maia's hair as she watched a movie while her baby slept. She knew she was tired after breakfast and the zoo. She had agreed to go with Joe's parents to the arena around 3 or 4 pm. She couldn't wait to see Summer! They had been so close before everything happened, they needed to catch up. It was never her intention to cut off the connection she had with Joe's family; but after the pregnancy she had no other choice.

She was snapped from her thoughts when she heard her phone ring. She picked it up immediately without seeing the caller ID and answered.

"Hello?" she said

"Rose?" she heard a familiar voice say and let out a sigh knowing exactly who it was.

"Hi mom…" Rose answered

"Rose, how are you?" her mother asked.

"I'm fine" Rose answered.

"How's Maia?" her mom asked.

"She's okay, mom what is it?" Rose asked.

Her mom and dad had been the two who had disappointed her most in life. When pregnant with Maia, they closed the doors of their home and basically disowned her. She moved in with her grandparents who had been her rock and helped her through the whole thing. What could they possibly want now?

"Look Rose, your father and I would like to see you and Maia" she heard her mother say.

Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes hearing her mother's request, "And why should I even consider the idea?" she asked

She heard her mom sigh, "Rose we just want to talk and meet our granddaughter" her mom said.

"I don't even think you have the right to call her that, you lost that right when you slammed the door to my face when I needed you two the most" Rose answered back.

"Rose pleas-"

"No mom, I don't know how you got my number and I don't care. I am not letting you or your husband near my daughter… EVER. I have been just fine all these years and I will still be okay. So please leave us alone" Rose finished before hanging up.

She sighed and looked back to her sleeping beauty. She made a promise to herself to always protect Maia and put her first. She was not about to break that promise.

* * *

"You look pretty mamma" Maia said as Rose looked at herself in the mirror.

She had decided to wear her Flowy Blush Maxi dress with her sandals. "Thank You Baby, you look beautiful too my pretty girl" Rose said smiling as she bent down and kissed Maia's forehead.

"Thank you mama" Maia said and giggled as Rose began tickling her. Rose couldn't help but laugh seeing Maia's face as she laughed. Just then, they both heard a knock on the door and raced to see who opened it first. Of course, Rose let Maia win and waited to see who it was.

"Hey princess is your mommy home?" she heard a female voice say and her smiled widened instantly.

"Summer!" Rose yelled and hugged the Blonde/Brunette tight.

"Hey girl! Haven't seen you in years! How are you?" Summer asked as they pulled away.

"I've been good! What about you?" Rose asked, the smile never leaving her face.

"I've been great, you know living that working mom life" Summer said.

"I know the feeling" Rose said as they sat down.

"And how are you little lady?" Summer asked Maia as she picked her up and put her on her lap.

"I'm good…" Maia answered looking down shy.

Rose giggled and held Maia's tiny hand, "Relax baby, that's your Aunt Summer. Daddy's sister" she added.

"Oh! Hi Aunty Summer" Maia said with a huge smile on her face and waved.

Summer laughed and waved back, "Hi sweetie" she added and kissed Maia's head.

The three talked for a while until Maia's favorite show came on which made her run over to the bed in an instant.

"She's so cute" Summer said as she laughed, "She looks just like Joe too, she his mini me!" she added.

"I know! I don't know how he didn't notice earlier" Rose added and both girls laughed.

"So… are you sure you're okay? You didn't look that convincing when I asked you" Summer asked.

"Yeah, it's just my mom called me about an hour ago and let's just say we haven't talked in years" Rose answered as she stood up to get her and Summer something to drink.

"What happened?" Summer asked.

"Well they weren't so happy when I got pregnant with Maia so they closed the door to my face and never talked to me again until now" Rose answered and sat down, handing a cup of Sprite to Summer.

"Wow… are you serious? And after all this time, they want to talk to you? Just like that?" Summer asked.

"I guess. But I told her no, I'm not going to risk them hurting Maia. She is my life, I can't let them hurt her" Rose answered.

"Let's change the subject, how are you and my brother?" Summer asked with a grin on her face.

Rose instantly felt a smile growing on her face, "We're good… slowly taking things but we are working things out" Rose answered

"Good, because I've been wanting to call you my sister for a while now" Summer admitted and laughed seeing Rose start blushing hard.

"No one has said anything about marriage Summer! We are taking things slowly" Rose exclaimed as she covered her flushed face.

"Yeah right, come on hot cheeks… let's go see my brother do his thing" Summer added

Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed her and Maia's things to go meet up with Joe's parents. What Summer said had left her thinking. Was Joe really the one she was going to spend the rest of her life with?

* * *

"So how did it feel to catch up after all this time?" Patty asked the girls through the rear view mirror.

Rose smiled and looked at Summer, "It felt great! I really missed her" she answered.

Summer nodded and smiled, "It felt amazing. You need to come back to Pensacola so we can hang out and you and Maia can see my girls" Summer offered.

Rose pretended to think about it before laughing when Summer playfully nudged her, "Sure, of course I'll go. I still have three weeks of vacations" Rose answered.

"Then three weeks of nonstop fun are ahead of us!" Summer told Maia and laughed seeing her clap excitedly.

Once they got there, security led them backstage to find Joe. Not long after, Maia ran at full speed to her father once she spotted him. "Daddy!" she yelled as he picked her up.

"Hey baby" he said as he kissed her forehead. "You excited munchkin?" he asked.

"Yes daddy! I want to see you beat up people and yell Uuuuuaaaaaaahhhh!" she exclaimed and mimicked her father's in ring growl.

Everyone laughed seeing Maia's little Roman Reigns growl, she looked so adorable!

"Will do munchkin" Roman said as he chuckled. Rose just shook her head and laughed at her daughter's adorableness.

"Um, hello? Don't I get a hug?" Summer asked sarcastically.

Joe pretended to think about it and shook his head, "Nah, I'm good" he said and tried to hide the grin forming on his face.

Summer rolled her eyes and smiled, "Come here you little jerk" she said and laughed as she gave him a hug.

"Geez, I'm feeling the love sis" he said as he pulled away, "So how you been? Haven't seen you in a while"

"Pretty good, just busy with work but I came to see you kick butt so you better win!" Summer said as she playfully punched his arm.

Joe shook his head and chuckled, "Don't worry sis, got this match in the bag. Gotta go change though so I'll see you after the show okay?" he said and everyone nodded. Maia kissed her dad goodbye and left with Summer and Joe's parents leaving Rose and Joe alone.

"Good luck out there, and be careful" Rose said as she pulled away from the hug she gave him.

"Will do Babygirl, see you after the show" Joe said.

Rose nodded and waved as she caught up with the rest of the group.

She sat in the middle of Maia and Summer as she checked her phone. She could feel people staring and saw some taking pictures of them but she tried her best to ignore it. She tried not to be bothered by it because these were Joe's fans but hearing people say things about her and Maia made her uncomfortable. She smiled at some who waved at her but that's it, they didn't even know her. She took a deep breath and smiled, she decided to forget about it all and enjoy the show.

"_Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Lima, Delta… __Shield!"_

Both Maia and Rose quickly stood up and looked up to see The Shield walk down the stairs. Rose picked up Maia so she could get a better view of her father. As she watched him go down those stairs, she couldn't help but be proud. She kept her eyes glued on him the whole match watching his every move. She had thought about this a lot, but maybe she was ready to join Joe on this crazy ride. This was his dream, and she was happy he was pursuing it.

She was snapped from her thoughts when she heard the bell ring; she smiled seeing Joe's hand being raised by the ref. She cheered along with Joe's family and the rest of the WWE Universe. She saw Joe wink at her as she went over the barricade to go backstage, she felt her cheeks redden but looked down with a smile on her face.

As soon as the show was over, the security guard came to escort them backstage. She smiled at Joe as soon as she saw him and gave him a hug.

"Congrats! Great Match" she said as she pulled away. She let the rest of his family congratulate him and blushed when Joe grabbed her hand and slowly pulled her away.

"Did you enjoy the match?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"Of course I did, it was great!" she answered, she could tell something was on his mind. "Is everything okay Joe?" she added

"Well… I was thinking… Maybe you and I could go for Dinner after I get ready…" he asked. She could tell he was nervous by the look he was giving her. She nodded and smiled when she saw a huge smile on his smile.

"Yes… but hurry up before I change my mind" she joked but laughed when his face turned serious.

"You're joking right?" he asked with a worried look on his face.

"Yes big man, now hurry up!"

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys, school's got me all busy. I hope you like this chapter, until next time! Thank you for all the support. **


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